Ninjas in Pyjamas have announced that Per Lilliefelth has stepped down as CEO of the company with immediate effect.

Xtrfy CEO Patric Jönsson has taken over as interim chief of NiP, with Hicham Chahine, who is the founder and CEO of Diglife, the majority owner of the organisation, due to take the reins of the Ninjas during the first half of 2016.

Lilliefelth had been under extreme pressure after a report from Breitbart's Richard Lewis revealed that NiP's players were owed thousands of dollars in prize money and outstanding salaries.



Per Lilliefelth leaves NiP (Photo courtesy of DreamHack)

In a statement, NiP said that the article drew "incorrect conclusions" and was "based on misinformation", advising the author of the report "to do his research properly before releasing such claims towards any individual or organisation in the future."

But in today's press release, the Swedish organisation admit that "some of the criticism and accusations pointed towards him [Lilliefelth] are true but far from all of them."

"As CEO of a company Per is the individual ultimately responsible for the business, and since he is a pragmatic person he accept responsibility for the mistakes that have been made," NiP stated. "As a result of the recent challenging period we have decided to execute the changes earlier than initially planned. "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."

Putting their Counter-Strike team back on track will be the main focus of the new NiP management, amid rumours that the players could go their separate ways once the contracts with the organisation expire, at the end of the year.