CPL To Return This Month?

September 15, 2008 by Chapree

Around five months after they ceased their operations, the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) is now set to bounce back. Last month, the CPL official website was graced with an announcement that they have been acquired by a United Arab Emirates-based investment group.

With that, the CPL is now operating from UAE. There are still no news about their future plan but according to the press release, more information will be made known this month. One thing for sure, they are still in the gaming tournament business.

CPL used to be the world’s premier eSports tournament with their annual Winter/Summer Championship and the million dollar World Tour series. It is also where the celebrity progamer - Fatal1ty made his most fortune with 9 championship titles. That is until they started to make a couple of bad business decisions (F.E.A.R on Xbox 360 for 2007 World Tour…say what?) which led to their demise.

With CPL now is based in Southwest Asia, we hope that Asian country will have more CPL love than ever. Our country previously had competitions that offered paid trip to CPL Summer/Winter Championship. Not to forget, Team Hybrid was the 2nd Runner-Up team for Counter-Strike 1.6 at CPL Singapore 2006.

The press release is available after the jump.

Cyberathletes Professional League Official Website

Investment Group Acquires the CPL

Monday, 25 August 2008 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Dallas, Texas, USA - NewWorld.com, Inc., a leader in the interactive entertainment industry in the USA has announced that its intellectual property, Cyberathlete Professional League® (CPL) has been acquired by an investment group based in the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Angela Summers, a spokesperson for the acquiring investment group, said, “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 organise videogame tournaments worldwide.”

Ms. Angela Summers continued, “The CPL is a globally recognised brand that has more history in the videogame industry than all other leagues combined. We look forward to reintroducing gamers to a better, larger and more exciting CPL.”

Angel Munoz, the founder and former president of the CPL, said, “This acquisition is just the kind of positive support that the international interactive entertainment industry needs. I look forward to seeing CPL continue under new management, adding further accolades to its history.”

Founded in June 1997, the CPL is a pioneer in professional video game tournaments and over the course of ten years hosted 60 international main events, sanctioned 600 international qualifiers and awarded $3 million in cash prizes. The CPL began as a small LAN event in Dallas, Texas, and went on to initiate world-class competitions across five continents.

Further details and marketing contact information will be released before the end of September 2008.

Posted in Gossip Time!, International eSports