Exclusive: Behind The Scenes Of The Astralis Sell Off

The legendary Danish organisation has been looking for investors and buyers since December 2024 with a sale becoming an increasingly preferred option among shareholders

After months of rumours a Dust2.dk report has now confirmed that legendary Danish organisation Astralis is likely up for sale amid financial problems. In their report it was revealed that former Ninjas in Pyjamas COO, Jonas Gundersen, had expressed an interest in acquiring the brand. Gundersen is now the founder and CEO of the Qatari funded Continuum X investment group. All indicators point to the likelihood that Astralis will either be sold or shuttered in the coming months.

In truth Astralis have been looking for a potential buyer since December 2024, having reached out to multiple parties about acquiring the brand or at the very least purchasing their Counter-Strike division. So far there have been no solid bidders although that could change after the upcoming CS2 Major in Austin.

Several sources connected with Astralis have since reached out to this publication to lift the veil on what has been happening behind the scenes. These sources requested anonymity under concerns about reprisals should they be identified. Many expressed grievances with management and the direction the organisation has taken, with one source even going so far as to say “Astralis has to die for Danish Counterstrike to rise again… The amount of smaller organisations they have fucked over is incredible.”

It represents a drastic fall from grace for an organisation that was not only synonymous with success in Counter-Strike but also one that was initially presented as a plucky startup with player co-ownership. Since then, a spiral of serial mismanagement has rendered the organisation not only a failure across multiple disciplines but also in a financial spiral that has made shareholders pushing a sale to new ownership as a preferred exit strategy.

After conducting several interviews, we aim to provide a better look at what has happened behind the scenes to bring Astralis to this point.

Layoffs

The esports market went through a period of turmoil and uncertainty across 2024. Not only was advertising spending down across the year but also most companies elected to make layoffs in order to streamline their workforce. This phenomenon was colloquially referred to as “Esports Winter” although by 2025 we can see for the most part it was more market correction than market collapse.

Multiple sources confirmed that multiple layoffs have been made within the company, with most of them relating to content creation and marketing. The sources stated that they had become surplus to requirements due to the focus now being on finding either a buyer for the organisation or the Counter-Strike team. Unfortunately, the layoffs have had a publicly visible impact on the overall quality of announcement related content. One source pointed to a sponsorship announcement that was unveiled with a lacklustre video edit:

“When you fire most of your content people it leads to some amazing [sarcastic] content. Watch the ComeOn announcement for yourself and see.”

ComeOn describes itself as a “leading global player” in the iGaming market and states it has fifteen brands operating sports betting and casino services. The deal, announced in December 2024, came with a very underwhelming video reveal that left fans confused as to what “ComeOn” actually was.

Several teams have also been cut after being deemed no longer financially viable. This has included the women’s Counter-Strike team and their academy Counter-Strike team. In a statement explaining the rationale behind the removal of the academy it was explained the decision had been made in an effort “to streamline the organization and secure a healthy business.”

Players Affected

With the removal of the Counter-Strike academy that leaves only one division across the entire organisation, their senior Counter-Strike squad. This recently went through a shakeup after having cut their in-game leader, Casper "cadiaN" Møller, from the team and bringing in former G2 captain Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen to temporarily steer the ship.

“The Hooxi deal is short term” one source familiar with Astralis’s recruitment policy informed us “as the focus is on making sure they meet their event commitments. Management understands that if they cannot find a buyer for the whole organisation then they can at least sell the squad to a potential buyer… They will not be spending money on any players while this is happening.”

Another internal source suggested that the team is remaining active in the hope of another team being unable to attend BLAST’s Austin Major as they would be potentially in line for an invite under those circumstances. It’s not clear what the rules are explicitly for such a situation and whether Astralis could be such a beneficiary. At the time direct invites were handed out Astralis were ranked the 11^th best team in their region and they also made it to the final of the Major Regional Qualifier for Europe, losing to Ukrainian organisation B8.

Unfortunately, right now the player moral is said not to be in a good place. Firstly, according to sources within the organisation Astralis looked to tighten their belt by asking their Counter-Strike team if they would be open to a pay cut, framing it as helping to “secure the future” of the organisation. A source familiar with the negotiations said that the senior players were “not happy” with this request especially as it purportedly occurred at the end of 2024 around the holiday season.

This isn’t the first time the organisation has had to resort to asking players for pay cuts to shore up their financial standing. During the most recent global pandemic, in 2020 the organisation enforced reduced salaries for staff and made requests for players, some of whom had recently negotiated new contracts, to take pay cuts to help manage outgoings.

In addition to this some of the players had also reportedly become jaded with the involvement of Kasper Straube, the performance coach that Astralis management headhunted from rival organisation HEROIC in contentious circumstances. Straube was instrumental in helping get the transfers of players Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard and Martin "stavn" Lund from HEROIC over the line, where his personal relationship with Lund in particular played a major role. However, of late Straube was said to be more actively involved with the team and not to everyone’s agreement. These disagreements are said to not only have played a part in the departure of Møller but also in the departure of Straube himself. One source also said that Straube’s salary was “too big to justify” in the current crisis facing the organisaton.

That same source also said that young player Victor “Staehr” Staehr is particularly aggrieved after signing a contract extension that lasts until 2027. During negotiations no details of the financial situation were discussed and there’s now a potential that as long as the organisation is operational on some level Staehr could be locked in to a contract he may not have signed if he had all the details. While it is supposedly the organisation’s intent to sell the team intact, given the desire of the shareholders they may have to be open to selling individual players should they receive suitable bids.

Fading Financials

Several decisions and external factors have impacted the finances of the Danish esports organisation. The company was taken public in 2019 but after debuting at a decent stock price the following years led to a sustained drop. In 2023 the shareholders voted to delist from the Danish NASDAQ when the stock was valued at £0.09 down from its initial £1.03. Not maintaining a public listing saves money due to not having to pay the administrative costs and fees.

In addition to this their flagship team in Counter-Strike has once again failed to qualify for Valve’s Major tournament. The latest failure is the fifth time in a row they have missed out on the windfall of not only sponsorship exposure on the game’s largest stage but also the significant financial windfall of sticker money. The circumstances surrounding these repeated failures have supposedly led sponsors to question their involvement with an organisation that is increasingly becoming a laughing stock.

In what should have been a significant benefit, 2023 saw them sell a slot in Riot Game’s European league LEC for approximately £18 million to French organisation Karmine Corp. The agreement made at that time was that the payment would be made in instalments across 2023, 2024 and 2025. A letter to the shareholders from that time states that “the net gain before tax from the sale in 2023 was DKK 153.6 million,” which conceivably makes the acquisition of Origen some of the shrewdest business the organisation ever conducted.

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However, even with these instalments coming in it hasn’t been enough to cover the rest of the outgoings particularly at a time when sponsorship and other games related income have not been forthcoming. Some sponsorship deals are to expire soon, including that with consumer electronics retailer Elgiganten. The sponsorship, signed in 2023, was said to be a significant one but it is due to end next year with, according to our sources, a renewal not going to occur.

The fiscal situation is said to be so precarious that the organisation’s management had been trying to stall outgoings in a bid to sync them up with the installations being received for the LEC slot sale:

“Astralis have been calling around trying to postpone outgoing payments as well… HEROIC [management] were slightly bewildered when they were contacted by [redacted] in Astralis to ask for a postponement for the final instalment of the transfer [of players Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard and Martin "stavn" Lund].”

There are also some mixed views regarding partnering with the Esports World Cup, which is funded by the Saudi Arabian state via its Public Investment Fund. Astralis are one of the few sizeable organisations that are not receiving a stipend via the competitions club program. Internally some shareholders have expressed disappointment about not being included despite others feeling such a relationship could cause issues domestically.

“Astralis isn’t getting any of the Saudi money from the EWC and people don’t understand the big picture there. Internally though there’s a sense that Astralis can no longer compete with other organisations that are [receiving that money] and that the Jabbi and Stavn transfer was the last big spend to achieve success. That turned out to be a failure.”

Nikolaj Nyholm

Nyholm is a well-known Danish entrepreneur who has achieved a level of notoriety within esports for his activities with Astralis and BLAST. He is synonymous with the Astralis brand and has often been the public face of the decisions they have made whether it was in his role as CEO or Chairman of The Board. He stepped down from his role as CEO in October 2024 and since then has increasingly had little to do with the day-to-day operations of Astralis.

Sources familiar with the inner workings of the organisation stated that surprisingly it is Nyholm that is driving the sale. They suggested that his interests have now moved a way from esports and that he has become increasingly disenchanted with the industry.

“Nyholm is on the Danish Dragon’s Den (TV show) and has status elsewhere as an entrepreneur. I doubt he cares about his flopping esports team anymore. The brand will be sold to someone else.”

As a board member, significant shareholder and the individual many view as the gatekeeper of Astralis his views on the best course of action and preferred buyer will likely carry significant weight. Several of the sources we interviewed have stated that the likely buyer will come either from the Middle East via either an investment group or a consortium of individuals looking to reboot the organisation.

We have approached Mr. Nyholm for comment and have extended an invitation for a public interview.