The Cyberathlete Professional League, grandfather of professional gaming, is allegedly closing its doors, bringing an end to an 11-year long saga. No timeline has been given, but staff layoffs have already begun according to CAL Warcraft 3 operations manager Martijn Bloemheuvel.
[Update: The post has since been removed, however, you can see a full screenshot of the post below after the jump.]
Bloemheuvel confirmed that Chris Moncivalles, longtime commissioner of the Cyberathlete Amateur League and CPL, was the first to go. He also stated that he will attempt to call into Epileptic Gaming’s Faces for Radio show at 8PM ET Tuesday, Feb. 12 to go over the situation with hosts Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham and Robert Summa.
Moncivalles and Angel Munoz, founder and president of the CPL, refused comment. However, Moncivalles no longer appears on the CPL Staff list (compare to Google’s cached version).
News of the shutdown follows a rumored buyout of the CPL by Play&Trade, which has since fallen through. As part of the deal, Angel Munoz, founder and president of the league, was to join the Play&Trade organization, but reportedly refused to move himself and his family across the country.Despite the alleged shutdown of the CPL, CAL is reported to stay operational. At this point in the juncture, it is arguably more valuable than CPL itself, with an active user base and a reputation as an online proving ground for up and coming pro teams/players.
A CPL shutdown means no more live events with giant prize purses. The organization’s most recent tournament series, the 2007 World Tour, featured F.E.A.R (Xbox 360) and World In Conflict (PC).
Attendance was far less than anticipated, and lead sponsor Sierra (publisher of both games) was less than pleased with the results. This, coupled with a lack of hardware sponsors (CPL lost its Intel sponsorship in 2005, and lost its AMD sponsorship in 2007) led to financial difficulties for the organization.
CPL’s reputation was also tarnished by a prize payout scandal that saw its events boycotted by the powerful G7 teams. As a result of unpaid prizes dating back to 2003, G7 refused to attend CPL Winter 2007’s Counter-Strike 1.6 competition, robbing it of attendance and prestige.
It’s worth noting that even if the CPL shuts down its live event operations, it can still sell its brand to another suitor.
3 Comments
and WTF is it with the spam to our email about thisssss aaaaaaaaaaa
Chris is a good guy and was a dedicated member of the CPL staff. I am sure he will be missed greatly.
I’m glad it’s gone. It was nothing but a bunch of mainstream bullshit, maybe now games will start coming out that focus moreso on singleplayer depth, not multiplayer competition. Fuck your eSports.
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[…] ceases operationsOne month after CAL Operations Manager Martijn Bloemheuvel went rogue and predicted the end of the CPL, the tournament organizer has announced it is ceasing all […]