TSM reaffirm commitment in returning to Counter-Strike

TSM's CEO took to Twitter to state that the organization still intend to return to Counter-Strike in 2023.

TSM, through their CEO Andy "Reginald" Dinh on Twitter, have reconfirmed their intention to return to Counter-Strike in 2023. "We’re planning to enter CS:GO sometime later this year which is a larger investment than all of the games we’ve left combined," he said. "TSM is always evaluating what esports ecosystems are best to invest in and will continue to enter & exit games."

This follows up on their previous announcement in October, when the organization stated that they were looking to build a roster based in Europe and that they had already "started discussions with ESL and BLAST about how TSM can be successful within Europe through long-term partnerships."

Reginald's announcement comes after a report from the Sports Business Journal on March 31 stated that "TSM will be pausing most its esports efforts in several titles and may be putting its League of Legends Championship Series franchise on the block."

The North American organization was dealt a blow in 2022 when the cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed after the two parties signed a $210 million naming rights deal the year before. TSM immediately sought to downplay the impact of their then-sponsor's failure, saying via social media at the time that they are "stable and profitable" and that they "look forward to a great year in 2023."

Alas, TSM has been no stranger to financial restructuring and the organization already withdrew its Rainbow Six: Siege team from the shooter's league circuit in February. Their former COO, Walter Wang, who worked in the company since 2017 and worked his way up to the position in 2021, also resigned recently, departing the organization in March.

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

TSM's last foray into Counter-Strike was over six years ago, when the organization fielded a North American lineup featuring the likes of Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta, and Sean "⁠seang@res⁠" Gares.

Before that, TSM sported an all-Danish lineup on their books, notably comprising household names like Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen, Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, who led the roster to a peak of No. 1 on the world ranking and helped the squad take home five LAN trophies throughout 2015.

Both rosters ended up leaving the organization in controversial circumstances. The Danes reportedly cut ties with TSM after it was reported at the time that the "relationship between TSM and the players had broken down, especially following the dismissal of team manager Frederik Byskov."

The North American lineup, on the other hand, ended after seang@res was publicly dropped from the organization just one week after the in-game leader signed an open letter to owners of PEA teams in protest of the inability to simultaneously compete in the nascent North American franchise project and ESL Pro League.

The Danes, together with Frederik Byskov and Jakob Lund Kristensen, ended up launching their own organization: Astralis. The core of that team then became one of the most successful in Counter-Strike history, winning four Majors and 15 more LAN trophies as well as sitting atop the world ranking for a total of 118 weeks.