Astralis bench HooXi and jabbi

The announcement comes just two days after HLTV reported that the Danish organization was actively looking for replacements for the pair, who are entering the final months of their contracts.

"Sometimes you need to fully close a chapter in order to create space for something new to grow," Jonas Gundersen, the founder and CEO of Astralis ' parent company, Fusion Esports, wrote on X.

"Astralis is one of the most successful brands in the history of Counter-Strike, championed by an iconic Danish roster that created memories for all our fans that will last a lifetime.

"As part of this move in a new direction, we have mutually decided that the Astralis journey from today onwards will continue without HooXi and jabbi, as their contracts expire at the end of the year.

HooXi was signed in June 2025 after a stand-in period, picking up the mantle from Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller .

Astralis are rumored to be in the market for benched FUT AWPer Nikita "⁠cmtry⁠" Samolotov and former Liquid IGL Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek to replace HooXi and jabbi.

Should cmtry be picked up, it is said that he will transition to the rifle, leaving Love "phzy" Smidebrant on the AWP. HooXi joined permanently in June 2025 after a stint as a stand-in.

With jabbi and HooXi in the mix, Astralis won their first and only LAN title since 2019 at Stake Ranked Episode 4 in Barcelona just under a week ago.

The Danish IGL led the team to the Stake Ranked Episode 4 title — Astralis ' first LAN trophy since December 2019 — and to the grand final of three other LAN tournaments (PGL Astana 2025, FISSURE Playground 1 and PGL Bucharest 2026).