by After conducting an end-of-year evaluation of the team composition, Ninjas in Pyjamas have announced that they will bench Danish sniper Patrick “es3tag” Hansen for the 2023 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive season and give the role of primary AWPer to someone else.
Ninjas in Pyjamas made the announcement via a tweet on their official Twitter page, stating their es3tag has been allowed to explore his options for the 2023 season.
“In preparation of the next year we’ve been evaluating the team composition overall, and have moved Patrick “es3tag” Hansen to the bench, and are allowing him to explore new opportunities ahead of the 2023 season,” Ninjas in Pyjamas said.
“Patrick has been a fantastic team mate, colleague and player to have at NIP. We have nothing but good things to say about him, and we are sure he will find success where ever he goes next.”
This decision follows the significant changes undergone by the organization a few months ago, including the departure of Danish sniper Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. Dev1ce joined NiP in April 2021 but spent the entire year of CSGO season on medical leave before returning to Astralis. The move has left a notable gap in the outfit’s roster and will likely affect their performance in future competitions.
After dev1ce’s absence, NiP enlisted es3tag, who had gained fame with Heroic from 2017 to 2020 but struggled to establish himself during brief stints with Astralis, Cloud9 and Complexity. Despite some strong finishes at major events and a few smaller victories during 2022, NiP and es3tag were unable to reach the high level of competitiveness the organization had previously achieved.
During the final months of es3tag’s tenure with NiP, the organization decided to change their in-game leadership by acquiring Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, formerly of ENCE/OG. Despite expectations, the team managed to achieve a 3-0 run at the IEM Rio European RMR, securing a Legends spot at the IEM Rio tournament. However, NiP, unfortunately, performed poorly at the Legends Stage of IEM Rio, finishing with a 0-3 record.
After playing 24 maps over the past three months, the Danish rifler has ended his stint with a 1.04 rating. While the team put in a decent performance at the Blast Premier Fall Final, they were unable to achieve exceptional results this year. With a last-place finish at the Rio Major, the future of NIP was uncertain. The inclusion of Aleksib was meant to revitalize the team, but they have struggled to achieve success since then.
Under Aleksib’s leadership, es3tag played more of a rifler role, while Fredrik “REZ” Sterner assumed primary AWPing duties.
Es3tag, who is currently under contract with NiP, has been given the freedom to consider new opportunities for the 2023 CSGO esports season, whether as a rifler or AWPer. He has stated that he will take his time to carefully consider his options and a new team for him is not expected to be announced immediately.
“Benched by Ninjas in Pyjamas. A bumpy road, but I’m standing here at the end, proud of what we’ve accomplished,” es3tag tweeted.
“I will be taking my time to properly gauge what’s next for me. Wishing the best for my teammates and NiP, it’s been a ride I’ll always remember.”
Ninjas in Pyjamas are yet to reveal who the fifth player of their 2023 CS:GO roster would be. It is expected that the franchise would announce the newest member in the coming days ahead of the 2023 Intel Extreme Masters Katowice.
