One of the greatest Counter-Strike players of all-time, and one of the most beloved figures in all of esports, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund has announced his retirement from playing professional CS:GO. At thirty years old, the Swedish superstar is excited to transition his career into streaming and content creation for the foreseeable future, but admits that he’s leaving the door open for a professional return in the future.
Counter-Strike says goodbye, for now, to one of the game's greatest legends (Image via NiP)
GeT_RiGhT has played professional Counter-Strike for well over a decade. He is one of, if not the only, player to ever be considered the world’s best in both Counter-Strike 1.6 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at some point in their career. After a successful 1.6 career playing for the likes of Fnatic and SK Gaming, he transitioned to CS:GO and joined Ninjas in Pyjamas as part of their legendary core that dominated CS:GO’s early competitive days. Along with Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg, Adam “friberg” Friberg, Richard “Xizt” Landström, and Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson, NiP dominated the scene. They set 87-0 map record on LAN that has still yet to be touched, and appeared in the Grand Finals of the first five majors, winning one at an unforgettable ESL One Cologne 2014.
An emotional GeT_RiGhT with the ESL One Cologne trophy. (Photo courtesy ESL)
GeT_RiGhT remained with NiP for seven long years, and while the second half of his run seemed disappointing against the impposibly high standard set with the first, he and his teammates would bust out the NiP magic once in a while. After leaving NiP, GeT_RiGhT and his former teammates would reunite under the Dignitas banner in early 2020.
GeT_RiGhT will continue to stream for Dignitas heading into 2021, and in a call with HLTV, said that he didn’t want to use the term “retirement.” According to the legendary player, he’s leaving that door slightly open in case the competitive itch ever returns to be scratched. That doesn’t necessarily mean Counter-Strike; back in December, he put out a teaser that he was giving VALORANT some very strong consideration.
Since making his announcement, players young and old across Counter-Strike have sent GeT_RiGhT their well wishes and messages of respect. With over 13 years experience competing at the professional player, he was formidable adversary to some of the game’s older CS:GO stars, and served as inspiration for many of its younger ones.
Congratulations on a legendary career, Christopher. We hope to see you soon.
