R.I.P. Championship Gaming Series

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 18th 2008 at 6:15PM }

The Championship Gaming Series announced today it's calling it quits after realizing that "profitability was too far in the future." The organization has a farewell letter on its site stating the concept was "an idea whose time came too early." Clearly, gamers would rather play than watch others do it on TV.

The big "game over" for the CGS follows the death of the Cyberathlete Professional League earlier this year. Guess that leaves Major League Gaming as the last (relevant) corporate-sponsored group standing?

Tags: cgs, championship-gaming-series, cpl, cyberathlete-professional-league, mlg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris Wallace @ Nov 18th 2008 6:21PM

Oh... no? I didn't even know this existed...

Wiinterfang @ Nov 18th 2008 6:25PM

Me Neither.

Clinton RRoD sept.3 @ Nov 18th 2008 11:12PM

me too, until now, to bad

Ayman @ Nov 19th 2008 2:05AM

i was getting my Phd in it.....now i can't make a living as a professional gamer :P

peepoop @ Nov 18th 2008 6:26PM

I think exposure (or lack of) was the problem. I wasn't completely aware of the CGS either.

There's a lot to be said for video games as a spectator sport. One show I liked on G4 before the TechTV merger was "Arena", which was nothing but two teams duking it out through LAN-based games. It was a blast to watch experienced gamers wail on each other, and more of that kind of programming probably would have helped G4 back in the day.

Seph X @ Nov 18th 2008 6:44PM

Arena was terrible. It was two teams almost constantly playing Guilty Gear and Unreal Tournament 2004, and when they bring a totally different game into the mix (DDR, Burnout, etc) the people playing totaly suck. Plus didnt that show get in a little trouble for having one of the shows interns sub in for a missing team member?

Wiinterfang @ Nov 18th 2008 7:04PM

Ew Arena, just the though of that game makes me want to take a bath, I think I just puked a little in my mouth.

BananaBoat @ Nov 18th 2008 11:18PM

Arena was awful... "Let's pit this Unreal Tournament 2004 team up against a Counterstrike Team in a game of Socom!" It wasn't skill based, it was....who can adapt to new games the fastest based.

I think the MLG has the same thing though. Some sort of gauntlet where you have to win at a racing game, an FPS, a puzzle game, etc. It's the most idiotic idea I've ever heard of...it's the equivalent of making Michael Phelps sprint against Shaun (sean?) Johnson to see who is the better pole vaulter.

&rew @ Nov 18th 2008 6:30PM

Good, hosting professional gaming tournament is like putting up a "bomb here, we deserve it" sign on the world map.

Chase @ Nov 18th 2008 8:15PM

Indeed, Ampersandrew.

gweazel619 @ Nov 18th 2008 6:34PM

MLG is the flagship league for competitive gaming right now, and CGS never had a shot. I think it's funny that MLG and the UFC are pretty much running congruently with each other. Over that past 4 years, these two organizations have catapulted in success and and these copycat organizations who think it looks easy, have crumbled. I am just happy to see these two companies that I love flourishing because they are doing it right. Sorry for bringing the UFC into this, but their stories of rising to success are virtually similar.

343 Guilty Fart @ Nov 18th 2008 8:10PM

Not familiar with UFC, does that stand for Unreal Fun Crew?

gweazel619 @ Nov 18th 2008 8:14PM

Ultimate Fighting Championship. =)

Mortifiedocalot @ Nov 19th 2008 3:43AM

I wouldn't mind MLG much, but aren't their "main" games Halo 3 and Super Smash Brothers? Really, if I was going to watch someone play a game professionally I'd want it to be a game that has depth, not a game you could "master" (at least hit a high level of play)within 4 months.

In B4 I get down voted for calling Halo and Brawl shallow, they both are. I still play and enjoy brawl but I'll admit that it's a shallow game.

gweazel619 @ Nov 19th 2008 2:10PM

MLG supports more than just Halo 3 and Smash. Halo 3 is the flagship title with the most money up for grabs but there is also Gears of War (soon to be 2), Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Call of Duty 4 and World of Warcraft. If you truly believe these games are shallow and can be mastered within a few hours, I would highly recommend you try your luck on Gamebattles and see how you fare.

Jimiisama @ Nov 19th 2008 10:48PM

I don't know; I'm not really for corporately sponsored competitive gaming. I have no problem with competitive gaming; I love tourneys as much as the next guy, but I prefer community organized events over leagues like MLG. Either way; just because CGS or CPL is gone, doesn't mean competitive gaming is gone. There will always be tournies; who needs a league when you have tournies?

NukeAssault @ Nov 18th 2008 6:34PM

Wasn't this on G4? God it was awful.

MuToiD_MaN @ Nov 18th 2008 6:44PM

GAME. OVAAH!

At least there are enough people out there who recognize that gaming isn't a friggin' sporting event. If video gaming is a sport, then BOWLING is an athletic competition. I say this and I am an avid participator in both.

Biff_McFresh @ Nov 19th 2008 9:49AM

Exactly, no only if they would stop with the all of the poker coverage, which is the lamest "sport" to be consisently covered on tv. Seriously half the time I turn on ESPN there is a asian guy with a mullet in glasses playing poker. Why are you showing this shit?

Gotta get back to my curling match.

Seph X @ Nov 18th 2008 6:46PM

Now I just wish MLG would die too, then all of the MLG idiots in Halo & COD could stop waving that around like a giant e-penis.

gweazel619 @ Nov 18th 2008 6:58PM

Major League Gaming is actually amazing. The tournaments they put on are always fun and exciting and most of the professionals are personable and humble. However, for the millions of wannabes that you play with online who pretend to be the proverbial shit and act like they are better than you at life, I 1 billion percent agree with you that they suck.

Kye - Capcom DF @ Nov 18th 2008 7:04PM

Awww man,

I would have SO totally kicked ass at MarioKart64!

Poisoned Al @ Nov 18th 2008 7:18PM

And nothing of value was lost.

D_Average @ Nov 18th 2008 7:21PM

Man, so much wasted practice.

Limech @ Nov 18th 2008 7:26PM

Well that's sad. I must admit I think their problem came from how fast they tried to expand. They went from 6 teams in North America to several teams in Brazil, Australia, Asia, etc.

Not sure why they did it. More players to pay and more travel costs. If they felt the North American scene wasn't the best place to do it then they should have concentrated on Europe where competitive gaming enjoys a more enthusiastic fan base.

BTW, MLG has an event this week-end. Check ProGamingTV.com for coverage details.

dubbz3000 @ Nov 18th 2008 7:35PM

damn, no wonder they didnt sign me for that juicy 6 year/$124mil contract... oh well. back to being broke

Courtney @ Nov 18th 2008 8:00PM

I always like it when a company states that they had "an idea whose time came too early."

Because it has nothing to do with the product, management or advertising, you know, the things they were in control of. It's that the world just wasn't ready for it.

aj @ Nov 18th 2008 8:29PM

Every businessman knows that you should never admit you made a mistake, and that eventually you will have enough money to make whatever you want to be true actually true.

Chase @ Nov 18th 2008 8:17PM

I'd rather watch professional gaming than professional poker.

Just saying.

D-5 @ Nov 19th 2008 9:48AM

I'd rather watch real sports than either of those.

aj @ Nov 18th 2008 8:27PM

Why do people feel the need to take things which are good and fun and try to capitalize on it by turning people who play games or trading card games or chess or whatever and turning them all into morons who care more about a rank stat than whether or not they are having fun?

Competition does not, contrary to popular belief, make people any better or teach them important lessons. It just makes them self-obsessed and....I am finding that I can't think of a polite way to carry on. Just imagine a whole string of swear words and that will do.

EMaster @ Nov 18th 2008 9:03PM

Aww poor "Cyber Athletes". I hope they can go to a shrink now and get the idea and even remote thought that they are "athletes" out of their heads.

SirRoxen @ Nov 18th 2008 9:08PM

Ohnos, another organization that has shitty games bites the dust. CSS was okay I guess. MLG is even more of a lollercaust, watching console fps games is so much more intense than pc fps! lolololol.

PoisonedV @ Nov 18th 2008 9:13PM

Thank god. Professional gaming ruins everything that gaming should be: interesting, enjoyable, and above all: fun. good riddance. (fuck you, 'fatal1ty'

BV @ Nov 18th 2008 10:00PM

He may be a professional gamer, but he can make some high quality headphones when working with the guys at Creative.

PoisonedV @ Nov 19th 2008 4:57PM

Yeah, I doubt 'he' makes them so much as they slap his name on it so fat 12 year olds buy them (all the creative products labeled with fatal1ty have been pretty shitty by any standards, anyway. i guess if you care more about aesthetics than performance)

Envoy @ Nov 18th 2008 10:02PM

MLG will die sooner or later.

capt_carl @ Nov 19th 2008 12:14AM

Boo-fucking-hoo.

*plays his tiny violin*

Markez @ Nov 19th 2008 12:47AM

Maybe if ESC finds this thread he can get all worked up and get banned again.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE

xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Welcome Back Party Ultimate Mega Action Force) @ Nov 19th 2008 8:13AM

I repeat: RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!!!!

Still not sure why he was banned. Sad story.

Mr.Ironic @ Nov 19th 2008 12:52AM

They should have called it Cyber War, people would have been falling over themselves to compete (especially in America?). Call them warriors or something. Not 'sport'. Fuck athlete, there's nothing particularly athletic about it. However a bunch of people shooting each other all day from different countries kind of fits.

If they called it a war it (and the others) would be/have been a success.

Grassy @ Nov 19th 2008 12:52PM

The problem with these corporately sponsored/broadcasted leagues is they pick the horrible games that sell well to Joe Schmoe console gamer which in theory would lead to more people interested in watching unskilled gamers compete in a shallow second rate game.

The real competitive games/leagues are a blast for some of us to watch or compete in. The MLG is just as bad as the CGS and I can't wait for that insult to pro gaming to die off.