TSM announce 2023 CS:GO return, to focus on Europe

The American organization will come back to Counter-Strike after six years.

TSM have announced that they plan to return to competitive Counter-Strike with a Europe-based team in 2023, revealing the news through a social media post.

The multi-gaming organization first entered the scene in 2015 with a Danish lineup featuring Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth, Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, and Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, winning five Big event titles and reaching the No. 1 world ranking in that year. After the players moved to Astralis, going on to make history with four Major wins, TSM fielded an NA-based roster for a year before pulling the plug on the project.

"We are not looking to go out and buy a top 5 team," Dominic Kallas, VP of Esports TSM said in the video, managing expectations from the get-go. Instead, the organization plans to build the project from the ground up, and base it in Europe.

"I will spend a significant amount of time in Europe, looking and working with a local GM to help build a roster and infrastructure necessary for this team to succeed," Kallas added, also hinting at the possibility to buy a slot in ESL and BLAST circuits.

"We gave already started discussions with ESL and BLAST about how TSM can be successful within Europe through long-term partnerships. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of infrastructure to put in place."

TSM is the first big organization to announce a return to CS:GO in 2023, but it might not be the last. With Riot's competitor FPS Valorant entering a partnership program more organizations that haven't made the cut just like TSM might be looking to swap over to Counter-Strike to maintain visibility in the shooter esports niche.