dev1ce answers back on being a ’paycheck stealer’: NIP haven’t paid me any salary for the entirety of 2022
In an interview with Pley.gg, the superstar AWPer has given a response to some of the criticism from people inside the community.
“Paycheck stealer” “fraud”
Is just some of the things Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz has been called ever since he went on sick leave from competitive CS:GO due to suffering from mental health issues. It has meant that dev1ce is set to go through 2022 without a single official match for neither NIP nor Astralis.
Something which made people to criticize and question dev1ce and his motives. We have spoken with dev1ce in an interview, where he responded and also refuted some of the criticism and claims made about him.
“I don't really read any of the stuff that comes out,” he told Pley.gg. “I rarely use social media but it doesn't really surprise me. Negativity is a part of the game, and you make a choice whether you feed off it, or you just don't read stuff, it's actually quite easily avoidable.”
No salary in 2022
A big part of the criticism surrounding dev1ce and his time in NIP is focused on the fact that people have called him out for being a “paycheck stealer”, because of him being on the sideline despite being paid by the Swedish organization.
But that is not the case, as dev1ce reveals to us that he hasn’t been paid any salary by NIP this year.
“I want to just state that in the entirety of 2022 I wasn't paid by NiP. Regardless of this, I do feel like people shouldn't be criticized for receiving sick pay if they are unwell”
No dev1ce for Astralis before 2023
Despite dev1ce having completed his homecoming back to Astralis, the 27-year-old sniper will not travel to Finland for Elisa Masters Espoo this week. A decision which builds on Astralis and dev1ce not wanting to rush things.
“For me, it makes sense, that after a sick leave to have a phase where you ease into things, and it was also planned all along," dev1ce said to us about not attending Elisa Masters Espoo.
Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports at Astralis has also touched on the matter in a recent statement.
"In regards to dev1ce, I am very pleased to see how he has immediately become a central part of the team, contributing with everything we hoped for. His game sense, skills and pure personality has been very obvious from day one, but even though we’re all eager for him to play his first tournament, as we mentioned when we signed him, we have time to do things right without forcing anything. It is all about creating room for the best version of “dev1ce” we have seen"
