Nikolaj Nyholm on the future of Counter-Strike and challenges for Astralis
The ESL and BLAST partnership systems that have guaranteed participation and revenue sharing for select teams will cease to exist. This will bring about drastic changes to tournaments and the way teams are funded. Astralis founder and CEO Nikolaj Nyholm shared his perspective on the upcoming changes in an interview for Dust2.dk during the BLAST media day on September 24.
“The situation is changing in that you have to pay more for better results. Whether it's a higher prize pool or payments that come from tournament organizers directly to teams,” Nyholm noted, focusing on the growing investment in the ecosystem.
How the changes will affect CS2 tournaments
Starting in 2025, Valve will require organizers of major Counter-Strike tournaments to disclose payments and incentives between organizers and teams, creating a new structure for distributing funds. Astralis , being partners with ESL and BLAST, is interested in how this will affect their business. Nyholm notes that the efforts of major tournament organizers like PGL and Starladder have already increased investment flows into the CS2 ecosystem.
However, Counter-Strike's growing economy will mean that teams will have to pay more and more to participate in top tournaments, and the gap between high- and low-performing teams will become more pronounced. “We see the gap between the top teams and the rest getting bigger, which may not be exactly what Valve would want,” Nyholm added.
What this means for players and teams
The situation is also affecting player contracts, many of which have already been changed. Nyholm emphasized that players will no longer receive the same percentage of prize funds as they used to when Valve announced the upcoming changes a year and a half ago. Now, a larger share of the funds will go to the organizations themselves, allowing them to invest in team development and infrastructure. In addition, Valve will now take into account not only prize money, but also the overall distribution of money, which will have an impact on the world ranking of teams.
Astralis and the upcoming competition
Nikolaj Nyholm openly admitted that Astralis have not been on top for four years. “I don't think we have been in a good position for four years now. That's also one of the reasons why I came back,” he explained. His return to the helm of the organization stems from a desire to rectify the situation and get the team back among the best.
