After only a little over a month since their last roster announcement, Ninjas in Pyjamas has decided to release their entire PUBG team.
This comes after announcing late in July that they would have two separate teams. One was to be lead by Oliver “Ollywood” Tell and the other would keep on Drew “Sweater” Miser and Karl “Ekkz” Kallevik. After not qualifying for multiple major tournaments it seems as though the organization has decided to go a completely different direction.
“It’s still early days in the PUBG scene and while we’ve had some great fun with the team, itwasn’t a perfect fit for us in the end.” –
Hicham Chahine, CEO ofNinjas in Pyjamas
It is worth noting that NiP is not planning on leaving the scene entirely. Instead they will search for new players to fill out their roster.
We’re exploring our options right now so rest assuredwe’ll be back with a squad that is in line with both NiP’s and our fans expectations.-Hicham Chahine
This comes at a time that is pivotal for PUBG esports as a whole. Developer BlueHole has heard plenty of criticism about the game not being “esports ready”. Because of that they have decided to focus on fixing the game instead of pushing out new content.
Also it was announced that in 2019 there would be official leagues for teams to join. It is likely that they will focus on splitting up teams by region as League of Legends does. What this means for major tournaments like IEM and Starladder is yet to be seen.
It is possible that this is an attempt by NiP to prep for those leagues. Whether they stay in EU or look elsewhere will be interesting as the rules for these league has not been announced.
For an org as storied as NiP it is likely that they will get a much better roster together and make a play for being in a PUBG league.