March 22, 2020

Astralis establishes permanent six-man roster

For most pro Counter-Strike players, periods with tight schedules, high tournament stress and a constant strive to improve, leaves little time for physical and mental recovery. 

The Astralis roster has felt this and has coped by prioritizing tournaments and travel during certain periods. The improved structure in e.g. ESL Pro League is real progress, but it does not change the fact that a 5 player roster leaves no room for giving players a pause when needed for physical or mental recovery.

In order to improve working conditions for our players, it has been decided to increase the Astralis roster to six players. On this basis, Patrick “es3tag” Hansen will be joining the roster July 1st, when his current contract expires.

Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports at Astralis Group:

- Our work with Astralis and all our teams is focused around performance and health. It’s our responsibility as an organization to secure optimal conditions for our employees on all levels, and especially our players, who on a constant basis experience the highest pressure to perform. Increasing the roster size to six players is something we have worked on for a long time with relevant stakeholders in Counter-Strike.

-This approach is no different than in traditional sports, but it’s new to Counter-Strike, and a change like this will take time to optimize for full advantage. The players, coach and our performance team have been involved in this decision and everybody agrees it is the way to go. 

The right move - also for the industry

Robert Gertsen, Partner in People in Sport, comments:

- We are delighted to see Patrick join Astralis and a six-man roster is the right way to go. As agents, the health and well-being of our players is a first priority. If other teams follow this lead, it will ultimately create more positions to fill among top teams, and thus more opportunities for pro players.

Patrick “es3tag” Hansen will officially join Astralis on 1 July 2020 at the expiry of his current employment.