2023 was undeniably an exciting year with a series of memorable highlights regarding our Counter-Strike teams and esports organization.
With over 400,000 viewers visiting our Astralis.gg webpage throughout the year, catching up on our signings, announcements, exclusive interviews, and last but not least, watching our players play LIVE on our brand-new broadcast channel Astralis Watch.
And if you are curious to know which articles topped the charts and attracted the most attention, you can scroll down below to get the Top 10 stories that dominated the charts in 2023.
On November 24, we could proudly announce that we had signed Martin 'stavn' Lund and Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard following Heroic's agreement to transfer the two highly skilled riflers.
Effective immediately, the two players replaced Christian 'Buzz' Andersen and Johannes 'b0RUP' Borup on the main team roster.
"We are continuing the work on the development laid out for us, and I am delighted that we are now taking a big step in the right direction. Having said that, even with today's arrival of two class players, we still have a lot of work ahead of us and while the big dreams are being fuelled, we are also realistic and know that nothing comes of nothing, Kasper Straube," our sports director, said.
"I would like to thank b0RUP and Buzz for their tireless contribution to the team. I have the greatest respect for both of them as players and people, and I am sure they have a bright future ahead of them" Straube noted.
Revisit the full announcement right here.
On April 18, the 19-year-old talent Alexander 'Altekz' Givskov was included in the main roster for a more extended period, and at the same time, switching roles with the legendary clutch minister Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth, who at that time agreed to help out the Talent squad.
"I am still super disappointed that we missed the qualification for the Major. That was my goal and everyone's ambition. An organization like Astralis must participate in all Majors and ultimately be able to compete for the title. When we miss this opportunity for the second time in a row, it's clear we have to look at all options. I know the game and how I contribute, but I'm also Astralis to the core and will do what it takes to move us forward," the multiple major winner stated back then.
You can read the full article as many others did back in the spring.
After a hectic summer, saying goodbye to the former sports director Kasper Hvidt and at the same time benching both the legendary in-game leader Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander and Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth, it was announced on June 22 that Astralis and Sprout had agreed on a transfer of Victor 'Staehr' Staehr. At the same time, an agreement was also reached with Johannes 'b0RUP' Borup, who joined the roster immediately.
Also, the successful Talent coach Mathias 'r0nic' Pinholt, who, together with the Talent roster, had won no less than five tournaments in 2023, was promoted to assistant coach for the main team.
Read the full article right here.
One of the most significant most-read articles in 2023 is undoubtedly the announcement of a brand-new all-Danish lineup on our Women's team.
In collaboration with the women's roster's new main partner, Netcompany, our organization was taking a big step in presenting women's Counter-Strike from a new angle.
A team of four Danish players, led by the Danish-Norwegian resident Aurora 'aurora' Lyngdal, who has been with the women's squad since its inception, now assuming the role of the team captain and in-game leader.
Le Gammeltoft, the Director of Communications at Netcompany, commented:
"We look forward to being a part of building up female talent and, above all, role models within Danish esports and gaming, where women are unfortunately still under-represented. To change that, first and foremost, there need to be women that others can look up to."
"Through this partnership, we also hope to contribute to a more nuanced debate about screen time. There is both good and poor screen time. Esports fosters social communities and skills that can develop into careers, both within and beyond the realm of sports," Le Gammeltoft stated.
Revisit the full announcement right here.
In 5th place of the most-read articles, we have the "Chasing a Spot in Dallas" piece, which states that the main team was kicking off the IEM Dallas 2023 Europe Open Qualifier 1 on March 11-12.
The roster led by the former IGL gla1ve qualified for the prestigious LAN tournament in Dallas with a 2-0 win against HEET in Round 5 after beating four other teams in a series of high-stakes head-to-heads.
The IEM Dallas 2023 had a prize pool of $250.000 and, of course, took place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, from May 29 to June 4.
Read the full story right here.
On June 21, it was announced that the collaboration with the former sports director of Astralis, Kasper Hvidt, was ended. Since 2017, Hvidt has undoubtedly played a crucial role in the sporting setup in our organization, but due to a period of fluctuating results that did not live up to Astralis' consistently high level of ambition, it was time for a change.
The collaboration with the former chief analyst Nikolaj 'HUNDEN' Petersen was also brought to an end at the end of the summer of 2023.
Anders Hørsholt, CEO of Astralis A/S, commented on the announcement:
"In Astralis, we must always have ambitions to be the best. Players, fans, and partners must go into every tournament with the feeling that we can win, but this hasn't been the case for too long, and today we take the consequence."
"It is never easy to say goodbye to a very skilled and competent colleague, but the time has come for us to try something new," Anders Hørsholt said.
Get the full story right here.
On October 13, the 16-year-old Danish talent Isabella 'Ismo' Ferselv was brought in to replace Marie 'maliTy' Holm on the women's team. Ismo joined from Sørby Esport, where the young rifler had been a regular part of Sørby Sigma in the Danish POWER Ligaen tournament.
Before officially being welcomed by the Aurora 'aurora' Lyngdal-led women's team, Ismo had already stepped up as a stand-in at the Nordic Women's Championships Open Qualifier on October 7, where the squad successfully earned their spot in the Nordic Championship scheduled for the first weekend of December.
"Astralis has always been an inspiration to me ever since I saw the Counter-Strike team for the first time. I have followed them since the beginning, and when they talked about launching a Danish women's team, it was, of course, something I would very much like to be a part of in the future. That it is already happening now is a bit of a dream come true, and even though it is a big step, I feel ready," Ismo stated on the day of the announcement of her move to Astralis.
Read the announcement right here.
On October 18, Astralis agreed to transfer the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) slot to a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, AK-Game SAS, at a total agreed valuation of DKK 194 million. Subsequently, Karmine Corp SAS will acquire 66,67 % of the shares in AK-Game SAS for DKK 129 million.
The sale will be completed in tranches from 2023 to 2025, and Astralis will retain a capital interest in AK-Game SAS of 33,33 %. The agreement contains provisions for Astralis to trigger additional share transfers, up to ceding 100% of the shares to Kcorp by 2031. The estimated net gain before tax from the sale in 2023 is DKK 153 million, with an estimated aggregated cash flow effect 2023-2025 of DKK 112 million.
The sale is subject to a number of conditions of which all are expected to be fulfilled in the near future, and the transfer of the LEC slot is expected to come into force in November 2023.
Read the big announcement right here.
On March 22, the main team was kicking off the IEM Dallas Closed Qualifier, and they had to reach the final in the IEM Dallas Open Qualifier against 256 teams to secure a spot for IEM Dallas 2023.
The roster luckily did, beating Cloud9 in the upper final of the closed qualifier in a 2-1-series. At the actual IEM Dallas 2023, the main team had a solid run with a strongly performing Nicolai 'dev1ce' Reedtz and ended up in 5th-6th place and earned a prize of $10,000 after reaching the quarter-finals.
As a result of Altekz's consistent, high performance on the talent lineup throughout 2023 and even before, the coaches in April decided to include him in the main roster for the coming weeks.
As Atltekz worked with the team, the Talent squad played with Andreas 'kiR' Kirstein as a stand-in. Later, kiR moved permanently to the Talent roster, now serving as the lineup's in-game leader.
Read the announcement right here.
In light of the Confederation of Danish Industry's (DI) recently published report on Danish esports and its significance for Danish society, key representatives from the industry, including the Minister of Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, assembled at Astralis Nexus on Thursday morning, August 17th.
The gathering focused on the esports analysis, addressing the current status of esports, industry challenges, future prospects, and its contribution to Danish society.
On Wednesday, June 21st, Astralis participated in the official grand opening of this year's major special exhibition at the Royal Danish Library, The Black Diamond, focusing on video games as cultural heritage and the history of Danish video games.
It was a great honor to be part of the official opening, which took place in the afternoon with several hundred guests, including the Danish Minister of Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt (M), who gave a brief opening speech on that occasion.
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