Ninjas in Pyjamas CEO fired following claims that players have gone unpaid

Swedish esports outfit Ninjas in Pyjamas has fired CEO Per Lilliefelth following a Breitbart report that its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players had not been paid thousands of dollars earned through prize money and in-game sticker sales. NIP initially denied the claim, saying the story was based on "misinformation" and "incorrect conclusions." Over the weekend, however, it issued a statement saying it was "time to bring in new people with more suitable properties, skills and experience to lead Ninjas in Pyjamas in the future."

"As CEO of a company Per is the individual ultimately responsible for the business, and since he is a pragmatic person he accept[ed] responsibility for the mistakes that have been made," NIP said. "It is time to bring in new people with more suitable properties, skills and experience to lead Ninjas in Pyjamas in the future. The business and industry has changed, it is time to take it to the next level."

That's probably a very apt summation of what's happening here, and in a great many other cases of pro esports shenanigans: It's big business these days, but it's also a very new business, built on and around young players. As audiences and prize pools increase, so do expectations and standards of behavior. Some actions that may have been given a pass in "the old days" are no longer tolerable, even when there's no willful wrongdoing involved.

Ninjas in Pyjamas announced that Patric Jönsson, formerly the CEO of subsidiary Xtrfy Gaming, has been appointed interim CEO.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.