Ninjas in Pyjamas
Encyclopedia
Ninjas in Pyjamas was a professional Counter-Strike
clan
based in Sweden
. They were considered to be one of the top teams in the world by many, including GotFrag
.
Their biggest success was winning the 2001 Cyberathlete Professional League
World Championships after a very close final with X3 (a forerunner to Team 3D). Soon after this they had trouble finding sponsors but the solution came when they joined the prominent e-sports organization SK Gaming
and were known by the names SK Scandinavia and SK Sweden during their time there. At SK they continued their success and became a dominant force in Counter-Strike. The prize money
from their tournament
victories in 2003 totalled approximately 170,000 U.S. dollars.
Emil Christensen
, together with coplayer and friend Tommy 'Potti' Ingemarssen, managing directors Peter Hedlund and Victor Lindqvist reformed NiP as a Swedish stockcompany in 2005 due to problems with the German organisation SK. The reformed NiP continued their participation in international tournaments, placing high in many of the events they attended. Emil Christensen, Peter Hedlund and Victor Lindqvist managed to take the company to the next level by closing some of the biggest sponsorship deals in the scene so far. They got about 100 000 members on their international e-sport community website in Europe during their first two years and was also the first Counter-Strike team, not from Asia, to enter the Asian market. Within six months they had about 90 000 members on their Asian website. The team have been among the most outspoken opponents of competitions changing from the original version of Counter-Strike
to the newer Counter-Strike: Source
.
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
clan
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
based in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. They were considered to be one of the top teams in the world by many, including GotFrag
GotFrag
GotFrag is a website, founded in 2002, that covers daily events and news about e-Sports and professional video gaming. New York Post writer Michael Kane called GotFrag "the best source of gaming [information] for the hard-core community". The site provides gamers with a place to find information...
.
2000 - 2002
Ninjas in Pyjamas was originally formed in June 2000, but was solidified as a team in 2001 after several lineup changes and namechanges.Their biggest success was winning the 2001 Cyberathlete Professional League
Cyberathlete Professional League
The Cyberathlete Professional League , founded on June 27, 1997 by gaming entrepreneur Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions....
World Championships after a very close final with X3 (a forerunner to Team 3D). Soon after this they had trouble finding sponsors but the solution came when they joined the prominent e-sports organization SK Gaming
SK Gaming
SK Gaming is a professional German electronic sports organization founded in 1997 by a small group of Quake players living in Oberhausen. SK Gaming retains teams across different genres and are particularly known for their success in Counter-Strike tournaments...
and were known by the names SK Scandinavia and SK Sweden during their time there. At SK they continued their success and became a dominant force in Counter-Strike. The prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
from their tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
victories in 2003 totalled approximately 170,000 U.S. dollars.
2005 - 2007
Feeling they could secure a larger share of the sponsorship money, they left SK in early 2005. Later in the year some of those players returned to SK Gaming leaving NiP to seek out new talent to replace them.Emil Christensen
Emil Christensen
Emil Pathric William Christensen , alias HeatoN, is a former Swedish professional Counter-Strike player, formerly playing as captain of the gaming team Ninjas in Pyjamas...
, together with coplayer and friend Tommy 'Potti' Ingemarssen, managing directors Peter Hedlund and Victor Lindqvist reformed NiP as a Swedish stockcompany in 2005 due to problems with the German organisation SK. The reformed NiP continued their participation in international tournaments, placing high in many of the events they attended. Emil Christensen, Peter Hedlund and Victor Lindqvist managed to take the company to the next level by closing some of the biggest sponsorship deals in the scene so far. They got about 100 000 members on their international e-sport community website in Europe during their first two years and was also the first Counter-Strike team, not from Asia, to enter the Asian market. Within six months they had about 90 000 members on their Asian website. The team have been among the most outspoken opponents of competitions changing from the original version of Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
to the newer Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source is an FPS video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a complete remake of Counter-Strike using the Source game engine. As in the original, Counter-Strike: Source pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in a series of rounds...
.
Major achievements
- 1st CPL Dallas, 2000
- 1st CPL London, 2001
- 1st CPL Berlin, 2001
- 1st CPL World, 2001
- 2nd World Cyber Games 2006World Cyber Games 2006The World Cyber Games 2006 was held in Monza, Italy from October 18-October 22 2006.-PC games:* FIFA Soccer 2006* Counter-Strike 1.6* Need For Speed: Most Wanted* StarCraft: Brood War* Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne* Dawn of War: Winter Assault...