CPL calls it a day!
Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) was a start up in Dallas, Texas in 1997 that put Counter-Strike 1.6 on the map and created a whole culture and community behind it. CPL was founded with the thought that one day it would be able to make e-sports a viable spectator sport.
CPL ended up giving away $3,000,000 in cash prizes in the year 2007, but citing current economic conditions and the crowded field of competitive leagues today in their press release, it was time for CPL to call it a day. They say they have ceased operations due to the current “fragmentation of the sport.” Which might give you a hint why they haven’t been able to keep up with the pace of other leagues and competitions.
CPL was created to achieve something more than just first person shooter game popularity. They should have seen how the scene was developing into a more diverse and vibrate community of eclectic gamers. A lot of the old gamers shifted their genres, some shifted to newer similar careers and in some cases entire teams were revamped to suit a certain game. The CPL however did not flex enough. They remained loyal to the core FPS scene and rarely venturing out of CS1.6 or Quake, etc.
The mention of the crowded field of competitive leagues also tells us there are a lot of leagues competing each other today. Gaming today is more akin to the games in the Olympics, where every game is different and attracts a different sort of audience. Newer leagues like the WCG, DG, WSVG (died), ESWC, CGS are all attuned to accommodate that difference.
Hoping to see CPL back on it’s feet in a new form… hopefully!
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