CAL, CPL Make Return?

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By Justin 'PrimeTime' Loeb

Mar 17, 2010 23:02

Two years after its closure, the CPL is set to make an announcement on May 1st. Will this mark its return?

In an interesting turn of events, the Cyber Professional League (CPL) and Cyber Amateur League (CAL) websites have both been revamped with a splash page and a timer. In March 2008, it was announced that the CPL would be closing down because of “the current fragmentation of the sport, a crowded field of competing leagues, and the current economic climate.”

Five months after the closure an investment group, Abu Dhabi, made the purchase of the company and released the following statement, “We are planning to launch a new company which will be named CPL LLC and will be headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. The new company will organize videogame tournaments worldwide.”

While no exact details are known at this time, prior comments from the investor group make many gamers anxious for the news to be released May 1st. Former CPL CEO Angel Munoz has shared some information on his Facebook page in which he said,

" A few people have contacted me inquiring about CAL, since there's a new countdown on the site. While the domain is still controlled by us, as it’s in escrow until summer, we are not involved with CAL (or CPL) any longer. I did meet with one of the new owners a few weeks ago and he told me that they are definitely relaunching CAL... but that's all I know.

A couple of weeks ago the new owners asked me to forward to them my contacts at Valve, so they can renew the league's license to use their games. So I think we may get the old school games again."

Along with hopes for a fresh start, controversy has also started to surround the return of the league. While Angel Munoz and the CPL brand played a large part in shaping what e-sports is today the company name is still tainted by the fact they have unpaid prize money from past events. The current CEO of the CPL, Scott Valencia has worked with WSVG and the CGS in the past and his reputation has been hurt by the closure of those two leagues.

While rumors are quickly being passed around, we will need to wait until May 1st to hear exactly what the CPL is planning.

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Source: tek-9.org