The revelations dropped by Robin ‘Fifflaren’ Johansson on the Richard Lewis show this week were groundbreaking in some ways, and in other ways they were as surprising as the sun coming up in the morning. While esports has made huge strides since 2012, the story and the continuation of the alleged behaviour by Ninjas in Pyjamas to this day will come as a shock to no-one who has been involved in the scene for any length of time, and are just a fraction of what probably lies beneath.

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For those not in the know, the former NIP player appeared on Richard Lewis’s podcast a few days ago to give an explosive interview detailing all the ways he and his record-breaking team were screwed over by their orgs during a period when they were dominating CSGO. The episode is linked below, and is well worth a watch, and it’s clear from just that one hour or so that this was not a problem confined only to the GO team, with both Lewis and Fifflaren stating they had been contacted by multiple other Ninjas, former and current, about similar situations they were enduring.

Remember too, this isn’t a small org, just coming into the game, or a team new to esports, but one of the oldest and most successful teams CSGO has ever seen. Today they are also in multiple other games, including Dota, and maintain one of the biggest brand identities in Europe, if not worldwide, with sponsors ranging from BetWay to DXR and Panasonic. In fact, they even state their ‘vision’ on the site as being, in part, that ‘the term “NiP Standard” shall be synonymous with superior quality, professionalism and sound integrity’.

It’s pretty obvious that if 10% of the allegations made by Fifflaren are true then there is no way NIP can claim to practice what they preach, and the problems go further than that it seems. A tweet from PashaBiceps in the wake of the revelations amusingly revealed he and his team had been through the same thing with their own org, and mistakenly believed asking for a move might help, convinced as they were that the Swedes were getting paid, and NIP were doing it right.

Avalanche warning

It’d be great to sit here and say everything has been fixed now, and the NIP saga is behind us, but the reverse is true and it looks like it will only get worse as more and more ex-pros come out of the woodwork with their own stories. What’s more, the org only announced recently that GeT_RiGhT, a man who is universally loved and respected in CSGO, would be taking what appears to be a forced retirement this year, and if he were to reveal all that could be enough to torpedo any hope they have of recovering their damaged reputation.

If you’re at least thankful it’s only one org, remember FaZe Clan are in the middle of a lawsuit that could drastically affect their future, with Tfue ready to take them to the cleaners. OpTic Gaming were run into the ground by idiots with no respect for the space, and the list of problems in the scene goes far beyond just those tier one orgs that you know are in trouble. And that’s all without mentioning the League of Legends spot Echo Fox just sold because they couldn’t oust a provable racist board member…

The reality is everyone in esports will have a reason you should trust them, and the one truth players need to rely upon is contract law, but even that requires you to have the means and legal bite to back up your bark. The NIP stuff is bad for esports, and there is a good chance it spreads like a contagion, as the one defence of the Ninjas you can offer is that they certainly are not alone.

Image: Fifflaren