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Dignitas has been one of the longest-standing esports organizations of all-time. The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team of the European organization has generated total earnings of over $1 million, within the span of its creation. But, it has been a shadow of itself in the past 6 years.
Founded by Michael “ODEE” O’Dell, Dignitas started off its Counter-Strike team in 2004, but only commenced its Global Offensive journey on March 8, 2013. Torqued, which was led by Canadian ace Joshua “steel” Nissan, was without an organization, owing to the disbandment of mTw due to financial difficulties. They were signed by Dignitas as they announced their entry into Global Offensive.
After 9 years of fielding a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, Dignitas has relinquished all members of its CS:GO to the inactive list. Its entire roster has been invariably placed on the transfer list and can all be lost, while the franchise redirects its focus.
Dignitas has joined the long list of franchisees who have disbanded their team or left CS:GO as the only active member is coach pita.
While Dignitas has placed Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, Adam “friberg” Friberg, Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli, Ludvig “HEAP” Alonso, and Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson on the inactive list, thereby making them available for transfer. The organization had stated that it was looking into “various iterations of a revised roster,” which could see a current player included in the roster. But could also see players leave for a better opportunity with another franchise.
Dignitas has disbanded teams more than they would have liked. In January 2018, the franchise had three ex-FaZe Clan members including Ricardo Pacheco “fox” Miguel, Mikail “Maikelele” Bill, and Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad, alongside other team members Faruk “pita” Pita and Ruben Villarroel “RUBINO” Brødreskift, was disbanded after failing to qualify for the European CS:GO Minor tournament.
The franchise announced its new North America team in February 2018, but that too was disbanded in August, the same year, owing to their relegation from the ESL Pro League. They rebranded from Team Dignitas to Dignitas on October 30th.
After the hiatus from CS:GO, Dignitas made a re-entry to the European CS:GO in January 2020, with the signing of the large chunk of the Ninjas in Pyjamas roster, alongside hallzerk. However, these changes have not yielded any fruits for the franchise as they continue to wallow in losses.
The organization’s decision to place the team on the inactive list puts into perspective the future of the veterans within the team. The renowned veterans f0rest and friberg, who are both in their 30s will most likely be taking a bow soon, with hopes of securing a coaching position in one of the esports organizations.
Dignitas has stated that it will be “evaluating its future in CS:GO,” as they look to compete for trophies. But there exists the possibility of the franchise leaving CS:GO yet again.
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