The Beginning

What got us started

Having experienced Counter-Strike in its development and watching the community grow, it became apparent that interest in the game is rapidly increasing. What we noticed, however, was that so many players were being overlooked and even more players never truly learned the fundamentals of teamwork. The players needed to know how to do everything themselves and often chose to chase their dreams on their own – and we disagree with that. Counter-Strike is a team game.

By learning how to fit into a team, you would not just become a better player, but also get more enjoyment out of the game. For our founder, Oliver, he recalls thinking to himself every time he joined a team, “I can’t believe how easy it is now.”

There needed to be a place where you would learn how to play and stick to a role. An environment where the only way to progress is through working together.

The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.
This motivated us to develop ARETE.

Our Goals, Dreams and Philosophy

Where we are headed

We want to create a place in CSGO where players can specialize themselves and simultaneously reap the benefits of a team environment – even when playing just for fun. Giving players a reason to work together will ultimately lead to a better experience. It is our dream that ARETE will spark a change in how gamers interact with each other and breed good values in a fun and interactive way.

Many people may be solely motivated by their own well-being and that’s okay. We don’t want to change people’s motivations – instead, we want to offer alternative pathways for achieving their goals. We believe that focusing your efforts on specific areas and allowing others to do the same, while working towards a common goal of creating a synergetic flow, will result in better performance and a better experience.

We hope that offering an environment where this behavior is rewarded will result in a more altruistic age of Counter-Strike and, in time, Esports as a whole.

Meet Our Team

We are a combination of gamers, business developers and software engineers, who all come from very different backgrounds and ages but we all share a common passion for Esports and gaming.

Oliver Brauer

Founder

Veteran Lurker who is keen on using his combination of positioning skills and aiming capabilities to turn the odds in his teams favor even in the most daring situations.10 years competitive and interactive experience with E-Sports and Counter-Strike.

Jan Ligaard

Partner, Design & UX/UI

A father keen on learning the ins and outs of Counter-Strike with his son in a joint effort to fulfill his dreams of one day becoming an Esports superstar.18 years of experience with digital design and communication.

Frederik Glad

Partner, Sales & Marketing

Started playing FPS shooters back when CRT monitors were very much still a thing- turned into quite the RPG fanatic later on.12 years of experience with digital marketing and sales.

Jan Lund

Partner & DevOps/Infrastructure Developer

Also has a son that plays CS:GO but never really touched video games himself – he did however work on radars for the military earlier in his career… which is close enough.23 years of experience with Software development, Infrastructure and DevOps.

David Hammer

Partner & Front-end Developer

After 10 years of casually playing Counter-Strike he still remains oblivious to what his role should be… there is truly a need for a platform like ARETE.15 years of experience with frontend development.

Nils Mandrup

Partner & Chairman

Installs SimCity every half year, plays till 2 in the morning and then realizes he’s a busy man with a family to feed. Uninstalls the game and goes back to work.18 years of experience within management of IT companies.