Xyp9x on new player union: "It's an opportunity to make a unified voice on things players care about"

We talked to founding board member and one of the driving forces behind the new Counter Strike Players Association, Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth, about his hopes for the union's impact on the scene.

After a series of 'failures and tries that didn't work out', the CSPPA is now up and running with around 90 players already having signed up for membership.

The Association is the brainchild of a collaboration between veteran esports personality and host Scott "⁠SirScoots⁠" Smith, an organisation called 'Danish Elite Athletes Association' and a group of top players forming the union's founding board.

Spearheading the player group is longtime Astralis member Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth. After creating a similar union that caters to Danish esports athletes specifically, he has now agreed to become part of the founding board of the Counter Strike Players Association. We asked him why:

Why did you choose to join the board of CSPPA?

Since I was the driving force - together with Scott - of forming the association, it only felt natural to also join the board. I also feel our team has a lot of opinions about how things should be working in and around CS:GO, and who can come up with solutions that benefit everyone who enjoys CS:GO as a sport and entertainment product.

Why is there a need for an association like this?

I don't think CS:GO is that different from sports, and every sport has a player association either regionally or globally, or both. I believe that the association wants to help players the best way they can, with all the problems they experience throughout their career. Other than that, it also creates an opportunity to make a unified voice on things CS:GO players care about.

This has been in the pipeline for a while and a player's association has been discussed a lot. How do you feel about it finally coming into fruition?

It has been discussed several times and there have been Skype groups, meetings at tournaments, and much more to try and create an association. I believe that things weren't moving, and players didn't have the time to form an association. It was missing a leader, and someone who could string ends together. Scott was a huge part of moving it forward and we teamed up with the Danish Elite Athletes Association, who was willing to operate, make the bylaws and get it up and running. So it feels great that it is up and running, considering there has been a lot of failures and tries that didn't work out.

Oversaturation of events and busy schedules are one of the issues that are discussed these days. How do you think CSPPA will have an impact on this?

It's something that we want to talk with all the relevant stakeholders about. It's the players travelling and having a busy schedule, so I believe that the players should have a voice in what a tournament calendar year should look like.

How does your own organisation feel about you joining the board of CSPPA?

RFRSH agrees and support the idea of a player association, it's a common goal to make the industry more professional and include players in that regard. So there has not been any push-back from my organisation.