Not a second wasted in 2026 – “The latest and greatest from Metizport”

February 11, 2026

February is here, and it’s time for a new monthly update from us. In this month’s edition of “The latest and greatest from Metizport” we look back on 2025 and highlight the events so far in 2026 as we continue growing and expanding our roots in the industry.

First and foremost, let’s look back on 2025.

“It was a year of strong growth in views, reach, and overall brand exposure” says CEO Arjan Sydhagen Dalsøren as he thinks back on the year. But most importantly, we are very proud to say that we ended the year in profit, which remains uncommon in the industry.

Let us make it very clear, however, that success for us is not measured in profitability alone, but also about building a business that can grow and expand in a sustainable way all the while strengthening the brand, teams, and the community around it. Metizport remains highly active with our various local initiatives in Norway and we truly believe gaming and esports will continue heading towards being the future of entertainment and a place for everyone to gather and feel welcome, which is why we have invested millions into it.

In June, Metizport’s VALORANT team stood victorious at Glitched Invitational 2025 in Jönkping. Photo: Emma Andersson

The new year of 2026 has just begun, and thanks to a strong momentum from 2025 we are confident this year will be equally as – if not more – successful.

“Esports remains a fast-growing but still largely unstandardized industry, which makes it both challenging and incredibly exciting to operate in.” Arjan continues.

2026 Launch party & Metizport Moa

On January 23rd we had our official launch party for 2026 in Ålesund, where we celebrated a successful 2025 and welcomed the new year together with partners, owners, customers, friends, supporters and local clubs, bringing together everyone under Liv og Røre‘s roof. Metizport’s CCO, Perry, also had the pleasure of getting flown out to Norway to take part in the gathering, getting a chance to present himself together with CEO Arjan and Commercial Director Herman. Liv og Røre’s facilities was a superb place to host the launch party – the guests had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities such as bowling, arcade, darts, pool, table tennis and of course, gaming.

Commercial Director Herman & CEO Arjan at the launch party

And speaking of gaming, on January 5th we officially opened the gaming centre “Metizport Moa” at Liv og Røre – the same facilities that we held the launch party in – inside AMFI Moa shopping centre in Ålesund. Metizport Moa is another great example of our local initiatives – together with Liv og Røre we have created another place of gathering for gaming enthusiasts, which we very much believe is an important stepping stone into the world of esports and all its amazing features, but of course also for socializing and developing your connections in life in general. Metizport Moa will offer drop in gaming, membership- and leisure gaming plans, tournaments, corporate events and training camps for clubs and teams. Just another step towards lifting gaming and esports in Norway even further up!

Metizport Moa has officially opened.

Of course, one of the best signs that we are continously expanding our operations is the fact that we are now looking to hire a project manager who can help us continue our gaming- and esports investment in Sunnmøre. This is mainly targeted for Norwegians in the general area.

Launch of LANDING: ZONE together with Thon Hotels

Together with Thon Hotels we are extremely proud to announce LANDING: ZONE, an event in Norway at Thon Hotel Oslo Airport February 20-22 which will combine gaming, esports, content creation and social gathering all under one roof. Visitors will step into an airport- and traveling themed universe, playing on the fact that the venue is a stone’s throw away from Oslo’s international airport.

There will be high level tournaments run by external partners on site in Counter-Strike and Smash with up to 115,000 NOK (~$11,925) up for grabs, as well as dedicated areas and concepts for content creators, streamers and other profiles with socializing zones and evening events in addition. The De_Airport Masters CS2 tournament will see teams from all over Europe gather in Oslo.

LANDING: ZONE and the collaboration with Thon Hotels is a long-term investment with plans to host more events in the upcoming years. 2026 will work as a pilot year to test the model for format, content, and the commercial side, with the aim of developing the event into a full-scale concept in the years ahead. The project is also widely an investment towards strengthening the national esports scene in Norway and giving it a necessary push in order to reach higher levels both on an international and nationwide level.

“Many events today are either purely competitive or audience festivals. LANDING: ZONE is designed to bring together the entire ecosystem around games and gaming in one cohesive experience.” – Arjan Sydhagen Dalsøren.

You can still secure your tickets to LANDING:ZONE by clicking here!

And last but not least, Counter-Strike

At the turn of the new year and in January we have made the following changes in the Counter-Strike department:

– Nikola “Dragon” Boskovic is bought out of his contract with Partizan Esports, ending the loan deal with the Serbian organization and securing the 26-year-old into our own ranks.

– David “forsyy” Bílý from Czechia is acquired as our new AWPer bringing x-factor and a fresh perspective to the role.

– 16-year-old Liam “MaiL09” Tügel is loaned out to fellow Swedish organization Alliance for the upcoming season giving the young talent a chance to develop and grow in a new, exciting environment.

MaiL09 at Svenska Cupen 2025

The new team kicked off the season with a 10-day bootcamp in Metizport’s offices in Myrvåg, Norway. Outside of practice and official matches, they also took part in daytrips to take in the beautiful scenery of the Norwegian west coast, lectures, team dinners and media activities. Overall, it was a superb experience and we can’t wait to host them again.

As the bootcamp finished, the newly formed squad then steered to Norrköping in Sweden where they played their first offline tournament of the year. While the results have been varying so far, we are confident this team has the right formula to succeed and simply needs time to get everything in place. After 14 days on the road in January, the crew now recovers at home but will of course continue appearing weekly in online tournaments as they polish the strategies – they are currently up 2-0 in the Swiss Stage of CCT S3 EU #15 – and in a little over a week they are flying out to Oslo to compete on LAN again.

The Counter-Strike team in Norway