Kjaerbye reveals why he’s retiring from CSGO after career with Astralis, North, FaZe

Danish CS:GO star Markus ‘Kjaerbye⁠’ Kjærbye has announced his retirement from competing professionally in the game, bringing to a close his 7 years as a top player.

The 23-year-old most recently had an unsuccessful stint with FaZe Clan, before joining HYENAS in March, but has now called time on his career in CS:GO.

“The time has come for me to say goodbye to gaming as a professional Counter-Strike player,” the Dane said in a statement on June 30.

“It is with a heavy heart I am writing this, but as of right now, I have no longer the hunger and determination it requires to compete [at the] top level. This game has been a huge part of my life for the past 10 years, and I feel this is the time for me to look for new horizons and opportunities. Future work can be both inside and outside the game. Time will tell.”

The HYENAS roster, which also featured Danish players Philip “‘aizy⁠’ Aistrup and Nicklas ‘⁠gade⁠’ Gade, didn’t manage to reignite a spark in the undoubtedly talented squad.

Kjaerbye⁠ will be best known for his time on Astralis and North, two Danish powerhouse organizations. He won the E-LEAGUE Major in 2017 with Astralis, and DreamHack Masters Stockholm in 2018 with North, among a series of other trophy lifts.

In an effort to reignite his career once more, he joined FaZe Clan in 2020, and despite some promising signs early on, he was another member of the revolving-door-roster that has stricken FaZe in the past 12 months.

After leaving Astralis, Kjaerbye was never able to climb back to the very pinnacle of CS, while his former teammates went on an era-defining run. Now, it remains to be seen if he will move to compete in another title. Many top CS pros have of course moved to Valorant.