Following a report by HLTV earlier today, RFRSH Entertainment’s CEO Nikolaj Nyholm said that both Astralis and Origen are separating from the company very soon. In fact, both teams are operating under a new company called RFRSH Teams—a temporary name that will be changed soon.
“We’re proud of the sports performance model and infrastructure we brought to Astralis and Origen,” Nyholm said. “Now it is time for the teams to stand on their own legs. Astralis is profitable and Origen [is] among the three best League teams in the West, easily top brands for the next 50+ years.”
Nyholm also said that the company will be focusing solely on the BLAST Pro Series tournaments and other BLAST-hosted events, now that the “truly important parts of the teams’ and the tournaments’ organizations have already been separated.”
There have also been negotiations to acquire the majority shareholdings of Astralis and RFRSH Teams. Nyholm guaranteed that all of the teams will be separated by the StarLadder Berlin Major, which starts on Aug. 23.
“Two years ago we spoke about how, after a build-up phase of a model esports team, a tournament operator and a team should not have common ownership,” Nyholm said, stressing that this move has been in the works for a long time. Many people have been critical of Astralis and the team’s focus on BLAST Pro Series events over other big-name tournaments.
