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. Continued…
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. Continued…
In a huge step for pro gaming, the Cyberathlete Professional League has announced today they will be giving away $1 million in total prize money for an open Halo 3 competition at the Extreme Winter Championships taking place Tuesday, Dec. 18 to Saturday, Dec. 22 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas.
CPL founder Angel Munoz gave GGL all the details on this monumental tournament for the year’s hottest-selling game, the Xbox 360’s Halo 3. Here is official word from the CPL regarding the announcement and how anyone can take part:
The Cyberathlete Professional League® (CPL®) announces that it will host a $1,000,000 “Halo® 3″ Xbox 360™ competition at the Extreme Winter Championships taking place Tuesday, December 18 to Saturday, December 22, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas.
The winner of the $1,000,000 “Halo 3″ Xbox 360 competition will receive a $250,000 instant cash payout at the CPL Winter event. Other prizes will be paid to at least 64 places. The competition is open to gamers worldwide and does not require pre-qualification or previous tournament experience.
The online registration will open Tuesday, October 30th. More information will be available on Monday, October 29th at Halo3Competition.com
For information on travel and hotel accommodations visit the Extreme Winter Championships website located at TheCPL.com/winter/
Continued…
This week, GGL’s Michal “Carmac” Blicharz gives his take on the Championship Gaming Series mediocrity… on the Quad-Damage randomness… on Blizzcon’s results…
Continued…
The second season of the GGL LANtics was completed a week ago. We have been transferring the content to Wire over the last days and we could not miss those videos. Inside this post you will find the complete Season Two. In the interim, Season Three has already started, so keep checking back for new episodes every Tuesday! Continued…
