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Bjorn “THREAT” Pers will no longer be the technical director of Ninjas in Pyjamas Counter-Strike Global Offensive roster.
After just one year with the Ukrainian esports outfit, he took to his Twitter page to share the development, describing it as both “exciting and sombering”.
He said the decision to part ways was mutual, but said his preference was to return to a position where he would be coaching players.
“It’s both exciting and sombering that I can now announce that @NIP and I have decided to go our separate ways,” he said.
“Trying out a new role this past year has been a learnful experience but I sincerely miss working closely with a team, having a more direct impact.”
“Big shoutout to all the staff at NIP who’ve been nothing but great to me, everyone involved with YoungNinjas and Impact, and of course the main team, I will miss all of you!” THREAT continued.
“With this said I am super excited for upcoming new opportunities in 2023!”
The 33-year old Swede joined Ninjas in Pyjamas in 2016 after previously working as a coach for Team Acer. During his time with NiP, he had two stints as head coach, one from 2016 to 2018 and the other from 2020 to 2021.
THREAT then moved into his most recent position, which involved advising the team on tactics and providing support from outside the server. This allowed Daniel “djL” Narancic to become Ninjas in Pyjamas coach.
During the past year, Ninjas in Pyjamas has experienced instability due to various changes and has struggled to establish itself as a top team in the world. Despite this, the team has achieved several deep runs in tournaments throughout the year, including a 3rd-4th place finish at the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022.
The departure of THREAT is not the sole change within the franchise. NiP has recently undergone several adjustments ahead of 2023, including the benching of Patrick “es3tag” Hansen. Reports have suggested that NiP may be considering the signing of former NAVI Junior AWPer Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov as a replacement for es3tag in the upcoming season.
It is uncertain what the future holds for THREAT, but in a statement on Twitter, he indicated a preference for working as a head coach. As such, the retired CS:GO player could transition back to being a coach in the 2023 season.
The current roster of Natus Vincere now includes Finnish in-game leader Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, Fredrik “REZ” Sterner, Hampus “hampus” Poser, and Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin. DjL is joined by Fredik “JAEGARN” Andersson on the coaching line-up as his assistant, with Trels “Robl” Robl and David McGowan as the director of performance and performance manager, respectively.
Es3tag and Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora make up the inactive roster.
