Astralis shut down academy program amidst sale reports

Astralis announced this Tuesday, April 29th, that it closed down Astralis Talent, its academy project. This decision comes mere days after HLTV reported that Astralis is actively trying to sell its brand and the CS division.

"In our ongoing efforts to streamline the organization and secure a healthy business, we regret to announce that we will discontinue the operations of Astralis Talent," Astralis said in a statement.

The Astralis Talent project came to life in 2021, and notable names such as Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss, Frederik "⁠Fessor⁠" Sørensen, and Alexander "br0" Bro played for the team.

While Astralis Talent never reached the same heights as other academy projects such as MOUZ NXT and Spirit Academy, they did win tournaments like the POWER Ligaen Season 23 Finals on LAN and the online tournament YGAMES Pro Series 2023.

"Being a part of the Danish ecosystem around talent development has been a priority, and we want to thank everybody involved over the past 4 years including players, coaches, staff, competitors, tournament organizers, and colleagues," Astralis said. "We will continue to follow the Danish talent scene closely and wish everybody working with the amazing young players all the best going forward."

The closure of Astralis Talent further indicates that Astralis aren't in a healthy financial spot after missing their fifth Counter-Strike Major in a row..

According to our sister website Dust2.dk, NIP's former Chief Operating Officer Jonas "calc" Gundersen is interested in acquiring Astralis. However, it's unclear if he's the only one interested and how close he is to closing the deal.

These were the players and the coach representing Astralis Talent:

Andreas "⁠kiR⁠" Kirstein
Emil "⁠kroK⁠" Wiedemann
André "⁠Zanto⁠" Christiansen
Richart "⁠ANSG1⁠" Saleela Nielsen
Elliot "⁠suma⁠" Nissen-Jørgensen
Dennis "⁠Rytter⁠" Rytter (Coach)