Ninjas in Pyjamas has announced that it has benched Patrick "es3tag" Hansen, following another challenging year for the team.
Ninjas in Pyjamas makes a roster change
The Swedish organisation made the announcement via its official Twitter account, in which it stated that: “In preparation of the next year we’ve been evaluating the team composition overall, and have moved Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen to the bench, and are allowing him to explore new opportunities ahead of the 2023 season.
“Patrick has been a fantastic teammate, colleague, and player to have at NIP. We have nothing but good things to say about him, and we are sure he will find success where ever he goes next.”
es3tag has been with Ninjas in Pyjamas since November 2021, when he was brought in as a replacement for academy player Linus “LNZ” Holtäng ahead of the 2021 BLAST Fall Finals.
It marks the latest in a series of roster changes over at Ninjas in Pyjamas, who have had a difficult couple of years - something that they are clearly hoping to remedy with a new roster.
Their most recent (and high profile) change came in October, when their superstar player Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz left to join Astralis - though he spent most of this year on medical leave, before finally making his Astralis debut CCT North Europe Series 2 earlier this month.
They've made further changes elsewhere in the year too. Back in September, they benched Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamora, after acquiring Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen from G2 Esports to fill his spot. Additionally, earlier in the year they acquired Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin from Fnatic, and brought in Daniel "djL" Narancic from Apeks as their head coach.
Ninjas in Pyjamas has not yet revealed who will be replacing es3tag, nor are there currently any hints as to where he might be headed next.
That leaves the team's current lineup consisting of Fredrik "REZ" Sterner, Hampus "hampus" Poser, Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and coach Daniel "djL" Narancic.
But once they do, we'll be sure to keep you informed here on Luckbox. The 2023 season is nearly upon us - so sign up for your free account, and we'll see you there!
