Growing up in Swedish Counter-Strike during the mid-2010s, naturally, I was an NIP fan. For a long time, it was almost my primary identity in the scene.

You ever see those annoying superfans that do nothing but tweet about their own team? I was that guy.

In an alternate timeline that would have landed me a job in their social media department - since apparently that’s how esports job hunting works. But today I’m quite happy that’s not how it went.

Non-Swedish readers might not know this, but NIP have long been one of very few esports organisations that are actually known in the broader culture outside our little esports bubble. Non-gamers will ask me about the infamous Ninjas in Pyjamas when I mention what I do.

But as bubbles often do, even that one has popped.

Swedish news outlet Expressen reported last week that all employees in Sweden will be reevaluated (ergo, laid off), and the work done from their Stockholm offices will move to their global headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

Of course, that work has also changed a lot since the days of Potti and HeatoN. These days the NIP Group seem to move more and more away from being an esports team, and closer and closer to being some sort of Bitcoin mining operation.

At least I think that’s what it is - my brain switches off every time I read the words “NIP” and “Bitcoin” in the same sentence.

I’m sad the organisation doesn’t see the same value in what they do as I do. How many other esports teams can you think of that have had their own chocolate bar sold across the nation, their own menu item at McDonalds, and not one but two official theme songs?

I’ve even previously defended NIP in their moving outside of Swedish Counter-Strike rosters into the international market, holding their brand and identity as an example of how brands can stay in touch with their domestic fan base while expanding internationally.

All that, over twenty years of legacy in the most beautiful nation on Earth, thrown out of the window. NIP used to be the Ferrari of esports, but even they are still headquartered in Maranello, Italy.

They have been dying for a while, but last week, the last embers of my NIP fandom left my heart, and NIP got millions of dollars in the process.

Trivia

It’s been a while since we asked you to use your brains, so here’s a simple one:

TL;DR once made a magazine, which was handed out for free at a big event. Which tournament was it?

IEM Cologne 2023

PGL Major Antwerp 2022

PGL Major Copenhagen 2024

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023

Find the answer at the end of the “Everything else” section.