Swedish esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas has allegedly put its Swedish staff on notice, per Swedish sports site, Expressen.

The news comes as the organization cements closer ties to Abu Dhabi thanks to business deals with the Emirates government. The organization has become more involved with being a crypto mining company, with its resources moving more and more into profiting there rather than esports.

Swedish office may close

The recent move details that the Swedish office may close, by and large moving its full operations overseas. Though nothing is finalized, it does mean all staff are on notice of termination, though decisions have allegedly not yet been made.

The Swedish office will still remain open, but only really for tournament preparations and boot camps. Allegedly, the CS team does not want to relocate to Abu Dhabi, likely due to training issues with scrims online and traveling reasons, with Abu Dhabi offering worse ping and harder training compared to other European teams already in the region.

Crypto pivot amid esports struggles

The move to Bitcoin also, by and large, comes with esports’ financial issues. NiP still participates in esports, but with reduced investment, getting deals to operate other digital industries is a good play. But with the investment coming from the United Arab Emirates, it makes sense for the company to naturally operate what the investors want them to build, and to get closer ties to the Swedish organization.

As it stands, NiP still has esports teams both in League of Legends’ Chinese LPL, alongside European CS, Brazilian Rainbow Six, and other multinational teams across Rocket League, Apex Legends, FIFA, and more.

It’s likely these teams will be unaffected, as they operate in various other regions. But who’s to say the organization will stay in esports if it cements further ties to the UAE?