GGL Wire

By Wang “GGL-archEr” Qiang, Chief Editor, China GGL
Translated by Victor “GGL-zhouyao” Zhou, English Editor

December 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve, is the day that the Cyberathlete Professional League said farewell to us all. Even the results were disappointing; unknown American clan x3o was the champion. The locale, the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, shrouded in wintry cold, lent to a scene that was depressing for gamers.

CPL Winter, a famous event that once attracted almost every videogame player’s heart, became disappointing E-Sports banquet but without its original flavor. Angel Munoz, the founder of CPL, once a high-spirited, vigorous and smart businessman, has now reaped as he has sown. He abandoned both players and the public; once believing that he had the key to the e-sports market, he is now abandoned by that market. Without the G7 teams, formerly attractive competitions lost their glamour as well as their fans. If he continues to lose his way, the CPL brand will be totally forgotten.

Look back at the history of the CPL, and you’ll find that it began its ascent with Quake, and reached its peak when it chose Counter-Strike as a formal game. For the past few years, CS was the standard of CPL. Famous for its professional execution of Counter-Strike events, CPL attracted both pro-gamers and supporters. The main reason for its fame is the competitiveness and popularity of Counter-Strike.

The success of CPL lasted until the conflict between the organizers and supporters at the end of 2006. At the beginning of 2007, CPL almost disappeared, and we wondered whether the brand would die or not.

Not long after, the fog went away. Angel found Sierra for support, and the CPL found independence. It added CS and Quake to two new and all-but-unknown games: F.E.A.R. and World in Conflict. This was a fateful mistake; at the CPL Italy stop, no one would pay for the organizing, and no pro-gamer would play the so-called “new generation of PC games.” When the gaming public lost its faith in the CPL, its aim to “inject fresh brood into e-sports” became ironic, and its slogan, “Play Hard, Go Pro,” lost its meaning.

Nowadays, CPL has nothing but a name. Its rebirth becomes an impossible dream.

“Water can carry a boat as well as overturn it,” said Li Shimin, a famous king of the Tang Dynasty. This truth is well-known, but unfortunately Angel is not Li Shimin. As a typical businessman, he cannot see the potential danger any more. Angel losing the trust of gamers means his God would revenge Himself sooner if not later. Until the cruel end, we hoped the CPL would come to its senses; but it is too late.

All we can do now is looks back at, and treasure, some of the great battles the CPL gave us.