It might just be the end of an era for Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as a whole.
According to a report by Dexerto’s Jarek Lewis, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund is officially preparing to step down from the NiP roster. The organization had previously teased that it was looking for a suitable long-term replacement for him following the StarLadder Berlin Major in a now-deleted statement. He will be replaced by Simon “twist” Eliasson, who is currently on Fnatic’s bench.
The report states that GeT_RiGhT’s departure from the team is voluntary. Shortly after, NiP confirmed the news in a statement, discussing his future.
“As Christopher has expressed in the past couple of months, he is looking to continue his career as a player. We have offered Christopher a key position in Ninjas in Pyjamas,” NiP said. “While it’s now up to him to decide his next move in esports, we would be absolutely thrilled to see him stay in our organization, taking part in shaping our future much like how he shaped our past.”
Regardless, NiP playing without GeT_RiGhT is a strange concept in many ways.
The Swede joined the organization in 2012 and has been with the team ever since, alongside Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg. He helped the team become one of the most dominant forces in the game from 2012 to 2014, winning a slew of live events and reaching the grand finals of the first five CSGO majors. NiP fell off from there and slid out of elite status in 2017, but has shown an ability to muster up the occasional strong performance.
2019 has been an up-and-down year for NiP and GeT_RiGhT. The year started with a top-eight run at the IEM Katowice Major that delighted fans of the brand and its legendary players. That success didn’t hold up in the months that followed.
NiP posted respectable showings in a few events including ESL One Cologne and IEM XIV Sydney, but the team flopped in other events such as the ECS Season 7 Finals and DreamHack Masters Dallas. In June, the organization announced the addition of Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora, hinting that it was looking for a long-term replacement for GeT_RiGhT.
GeT_RiGhT seemed to have mixed feelings on his departure in streams afterwards, and got emotional while doing interviews at other tournaments, most notably ESL One Cologne. Alongside this was an empassioned plea from Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson to not allow NiP to force him into retirement if he wasn’t ready.
What comes next for GeT_RiGhT is unclear. He appeared on Twitch shortly after Lewis’ report and told fans he felt “really fucking good.”
It is unclear whether he is feeling good about a new role with NiP, a new chapter in his competitive career, or something else entirely.
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