Ninjas in Pyjamas

Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) is a Swedish esports organization which began with a focus on Counter-Strike esports and has expanded to Rainbow Six Siege, Valorant, and FIFA competitions. As of January 2023, the team has amassed total prize winnings of USD 7.5 million, with a larger share being accounted for by its success with Counter-Strike, accounting for approximately 50% of total prize winnings. 

In July 2024, the company debuted on the NASDAQ exchange, under the “NIPG” ticker, with its IPO valued at approximately USD 20.25 million.

In August 2021, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) announced its merger with the Chinese esports brand ESV5, a joint venture by two Chinese esports organizations eStar Gaming and Victory Five, to create ‘NIP Group’. The merger was completed in January 2023 and at the time of the announcement the merged entity was expected to generate more than CNY 400 million (~USD 61.7 million) in revenue in 2021. Hicham Chahine remained Ninjas in Pyjamas’ CEO and became co-CEO of NIP Group, focusing on EMEA and the Americas. ESV5 CEO Mario Ho will lead eStar Gaming as co-CEO overseeing the organization’s Chinese and Asian operations.

Through the merger, NIP re-entered League of Legends (LoL) esports by joining the LoL Pro League (LPL). NIP also intended to leverage ESV5’s entertainment and media expertise to expand its digital influence globally. NIP Group was expected to rebrand ESV5’s Victory Five and eStar Gaming for its League of Legends operations for PC and mobile esports respectively. It was also revealed that while NIP will continue to field its Valorant, CS:GO, Rainbow Six Siege, and FIFA rosters in Sweden, its LoL squad will be based in Shenzhen, China.

Key customers and partnerships

NIP partnered with automotive manufacturer BYD in March 2024, which involved the creation of fan experiences and activations.

NIP agreed to a 5-year partnership with the blockchain company Zilliqa in October 2021. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies collaborated on “tokenized and incentivized” experiences for fans and enhanced monetization efforts; fan engagement experiences include virtual merchandise shopping and watching NIP compete virtually. Moreover, the Zilliqa logo will be featured on NIPs Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rainbow Six Siege player jerseys.

In October 2021, NIP also launched Shinobi Esports, a joint venture with investment platform Aser Ventures, to help sports clubs break into esports. Shinobi Esports offered management, studio, and media services to sports teams planning to enter the esports space. It aimed to help sports clubs define and implement their esports strategies by offering services such as launching, recruiting, and managing esports teams as well as managing commercial and fan engagement opportunities.