Renowned esports journalist Richard Lewis has unveiled the first of his series called “The HUNDEN Files,” which discloses “101 pages of private communications” between Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen and Astralis while he was employed at Heroic from 2020-2021. Lewis’ initial revelation states that HUNDEN signed a contract with Astralis as early as April 2, 2021, while still under contract with Heroic until May 2022.
As a quick recap, HUNDEN was suspended by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) in 2020 for exploiting the coaching bug while part of Heroic. He served an eight-month reduced sentence due to his cooperation with the investigation and was reinstated as the Danish team’s coach in April 2021 after serving his ban.
However, just four months later, allegations surfaced that HUNDEN had shared Heroic’s confidential strategic information with a key individual at Astralis before a significant tournament. Heroic accused HUNDEN of sharing the confidential data and initiated legal action, which is still ongoing.
Lewis’ first release of HUNDEN-related files covers the communication between HUNDEN and Astralis during this time. He reveals that HUNDEN agreed to sign a contract with Astralis in principle as early as March 2021. Astralis’ Director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt, formally offered HUNDEN a coaching role on March 8, 2021. HUNDEN received a contract on March 23, and by April 2, the contract appeared to have been signed by both HUNDEN and Astralis CEO Anders Hørsholt.
Heroic was reportedly informed of these contract negotiations between their coach and rival Danish organization Astralis by an “Astralis insider” via email in late April.
According to Lewis, HUNDEN believed he was working for Astralis and carried out multiple tasks for the organization, despite still being a Heroic employee. He also tried to have his contract with Heroic voided, with Astralis referring him to legal representation for assistance.
More details are expected in upcoming releases of “The HUNDEN Files.”
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