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CPL World Tour 2006 Cancelled

Posted by Zonk on Wed Apr 26, 2006 02:09 PM
from the lamentable dept.
The Almighty Buck Entertainment Games
InsaneLampshade writes "BBC News reports pro-gamers are mourning the loss of the most lucrative tournament in computer gaming. In 2005 the World Tour organized by the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) gave away $1m in prizes to pro-gamers at 10 events held around the globe. But the tour has been canceled for 2006, leaving many pro-gamers wondering how to make their lifestyle pay."
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CPL World Tour 2006 Cancelled 25 Comments More /

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  • Oh I dunno.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by numbski (515011) * <`ten.revliskh' `ta' `iksbmun'> on Wednesday April 26 2006, @02:13PM (#15206408) Homepage Journal
    Mickey-D's is usually hiring. ;P

    Okay, it was coming, you knew it was, get the first post out of the way and make way for the insightful ones.

    What?

    Oh, there's nothing insightful to be said here?

    Oops.

  • Get a job (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RoadDoggFL (876257) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @02:13PM (#15206410) Homepage
    "leaving many pro-gamers wondering how to make their lifestyle pay."
    Uhh, they could get fucking jobs. And aren't there other tournaments? If anything, the fewer prizes should mean that competition will only get more fierce. It sucks that it's cancelled for the year, but the world of competetive gaming isn't exactly over because of this.
    • The "pro" prefix in the term "pro-gamers" means profesional. That means those tournaments are their job, much like any other profesional athelete. And don't go off about how gaming isn't athletic at all, that's not the point here.

      I agree that this isn't a deathblow for competative gaming. However, if it is no longer possible to actualy make a living as a tournament gamer, that is going to drop the level of competition. Without the big tournaments, it's like doing the same job for much less pay, and it

      • You're right, but so are they.

        Look at it this way, yes, working at the Chevy plant is honest, respectable work, but when the plant shuts down you best find some other job.

        I consider pro gaming at least as respectable as pro baseball (maybe more if you count in steroid usage). But just like when that XFL league shut down a few years ago, these pros need to stop moaning and go look elseware for employment.

        Yeah, I know it's hard. Buddy, it's hard for all of us. My NT4.0 skills go completely unused these day
      • The "pro" prefix in the term "pro-gamers" means profesional. That means those tournaments are their job

        No, it means that's how they make money. There's a difference.

        If they can no longer make money doing it, then there is nothing "pro" about what they do. They are simply gamers, like everybody else.

        You can't just take any leisure activity and call it a professional activity and have it be sustainable. Hey, look at me, I'm a professional lemonade drinker! Just because someone gave me a dollar once to wat
        • You can work up to it. Getting in the smaller, local tournaments is not to difficult, and it's no where near a full time job to be competative at that level. In fact, the gaming that most gamers already do is sufficent to train to beginner levels of competition, if you stay focused.

          I actualy live with a pro-gamer, he's won a few thousand dollars from CPL events, and a Truck from a Halo 2 tourney. He does spend a fair ammount of time gaming, but he's also getting a Comp Sci degree, and has no trouble ke

    • i think you're right -- i don't think the economics of pro-gaming as a spectator sport make any sense, other than advertising ("oooh, ($new_fps|$new_gaming_box|$new_mouse)... must.buy.now!"). i'm willing to wager that the vast majority of people (i.e. not 0.00001% that the slashdot crowd comprises) would rather play games than watch them, which means no ad revenue, which means no sponsors, which means no sustainable leagues that can support professional play.
    • Maybe they could try walmart, I hear they have flexible schedules and give great discounts, just you don't have decent healthcare.
  • You mean all that mental training they did to become extremely good at videos games has gone to waste?? Now you get to join the ranks of the college football player who shot out his back while earning his "Journalism degree"

  • CPL was doomed. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dick pubes (963843) on Wednesday April 26 2006, @02:23PM (#15206506)
    "Professional" gaming remains a myth. Even the very top players can barely afford to live off their prize money. You know all those big figures you see quoted for the prizes? Those all get split 5 ways. With only the CPL and WCG having decent prize-money, a team would need to win both in a single year to manage a reasonable income. This is for a "job" which takes pretty much constant play in order to maintain your edge. Sponsorship helps a little, but it normally only just covers travel expenses etc, rather than providing an actual income.
    • Uhm, so how about the ESWC that offers the greatest amount of money every year, besides that there are plenty of other events the Eurocup in CS has a $7500 first prize, and that is just an online cup.. And if you think sponsors only pay for the trips you are again mistaking, stop trying to play experts if you do not have a clue, why would a team go on a promotion tour in asia if all they got was a $700 trip twice a year? You know the trip for ESWC and WCG is not even paid by the teams right?

      Get a clue befor

    • I just think it's too early. You just don't have the momentum that sports competition has. Even though gaming has broad appeal, the fact is that for most people, watching someone else play a videogame is about as exciting as watching the dog take a shit on the lawn. That will change eventually, it really can be entertaining, but people just aren't used to it yet. You can't have a professional gaming league without money, and you can't have money without sponsors, and you can't have sponsors without interes

      • I just think it's too early. You just don't have the momentum that sports competition has. Even though gaming has broad appeal, the fact is that for most people, watching someone else play a videogame is about as exciting as watching the dog take a shit on the lawn. That will change eventually, it really can be entertaining, but people just aren't used to it yet. You can't have a professional gaming league without money, and you can't have money without sponsors, and you can't have sponsors without interest
        • It simply won't work as a live broadcast, unless you develop a mod that provides pauses at intervals, and allows for team captains to call time-out to run out the clock :P
  • in North America and Europe is nowhere near the level of South Korea and China. The CPL gave away nice prices, but it's been short lived.
    If we got American television channels to follow the path Korean ones like OnGameNet [ongamenet.com] or MBC Game [mbcgame.co.kr], then that would be something.
    Americans suck at RTS games, though ;)
    • Americans also suck at gaming-related television, as many people who've sat through more than a few minutes of the meager offerings on G4, TechTV, etc. can attest. If we could get that right, it might be able to kick gaming fully into the mainstream.
  • Cyberathlete

    *snicker snicker*

  • I assumed there would be more games on here that would realize CPL isn't the only league and the US isn't the only country. Just because CPL doesn't run the tour this year doesn't mean they aren't having CPL tournaments and just because something has a setback in the US doesn't mean it is over for the rest of the world. Also some players can make a very good living off of these tournaments...admitedly this is only a very very small percentage. When the article mentioned "The overall winner of the Grand F

  • WSVG (Score:2, Informative)

    by dukiebbtwin (912572)
    This has been known for a while now in the competitive gaming community. The WSVG [thewsvg.com] - World Series of Video Games is basically taking over the CPL's World Tour function. There will be 3 major events - Lanwar in Kentucky, Dreamhack in Sweden, and the CPL Summer Event in Texas. The thought that competitive gaming is dead is completely not true.
  • ...leaving many pro-gamers wondering how to make their lifestyle pay.

    Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, get a job.
    • hehe, i am still trying to figure out why we think of true pro athletes as true pro athletes ;) Most of them are just playing games too :)

      ok, a little broad but still....

      I think they need to work on building teams more and find some billionaire owners and cool $20 mil arena to watch them in and.... nah

    • Re:Poker (Score:3, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo (153816)

      Professional Gaming is old news ... out the window ... instead turn your attention towards Proessional Poker ... that's where the real money is at!

      Now this may be a troll (Actually, if anything, it's flamebait) but it does (accidentally) raise an interesting point. I know a [very] little about it because I work for a California tribal casino.

      Anyway, table games were all but dead before the comeback of poker. Pretty much all casino visitors wanted to do was shove their money into slot machines. Ther

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