The Ninjas in Pyjamas organization has announced it is moving its VALORANT division to Brazil as part of a new “Ninjas in Brazil” initiative that will include a new LATAM-based headquarters.
This change means that the organization will be parting ways with the active members of its European VALORANT roster—Emir “rhyme” Muminovic, Egor “chiwawa” Stepanyuk, Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev, Adam “ec1s” Eccles, Charles “CREA” Beauvois, coach Emil “eMIL” Sandgren, and assistant coach Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans. All of these people are now “allowed to explore new opportunities,” according to COO Jonas Gunderson. Gunderson was blunt in his reasoning for the decision.
“We’ve been in [VALORANT] from the beginning because we love what it brings to the table, but have been unable to unlock the potential of the game both from a performance and engagement standpoint,” Gunderson said. “We wanted a foundation that we could invest in long term, allowing us to allocate big resources and innovation. Our current EU positioning isn’t good enough for our ambitions.”
NiP is seeking to establish an “even stronger foothold” in Latin America, building off the foundation of their Brazilian Rainbow Six Siege roster, who are reigning Six Invitational champions. The organization plans to establish another Young Ninjas academy in Latin America, all leading to a “full-scale Ninjas in Brazil division.”
This is the latest in several big moves made by the NiP organization this year. NiP started the year with its first rebrand in over two decades, then acquired Danish CS:GO superstar dev1ce to join its flagship roster, then announced in August it was merging with ESV5 and joining China’s LPL in 2022.
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more esports news and analysis.
Published: Nov 2, 2021 08:25 pm