Bad News For Professional Gamers: the 2006 World Tour is Dead

Last year, Cyberathlete Professional League awarded one million US dollars to professional gamers around the world during the 2005 World Tour. Sadly for pro gamers, the tour for 2006 has been cancelled. Now, those formerly fortunate souls who made a living by playing MMO games may have to find another way to pay their bills.

Last year’s tour was organized around Painkiller. Prizes of $50,000 were awarded at every stop, with a grand prize of $150,000 at stake for the final round in New York City. Last year’s Tournament winner was Jonathan Wendel, known online as “Fatal1ty.” His winnings over the course of the tournament totaled nearly a quarter-million dollars.

This year’s tour was to have been centered around Quake IV, and was predicted to be even bigger than 2005. Although the official announcement has yet to be made, CPL founder Angel Mu?has told interviewers that the 2006 Tournament is definitely off.

New tournaments are coming into existence, however. The World Series of Video Games and Kode 5 are hoping to attract even larger numbers of participants. More licenses are being purchased by pro-gaming tournament organizers in nations throughout the world, so don’t give up those pro-gaming dreams just yet.

Last year, Cyberathlete Professional League awarded one million US dollars to professional gamers around the world during the 2005 World Tour. Sadly for pro gamers, the tour for 2006 has been cancelled. Now, those formerly fortunate souls who made a living by playing MMO games may have to find another way to pay their bills.

Last year’s tour was organized around Painkiller. Prizes of $50,000 were awarded at every stop, with a grand prize of $150,000 at stake for the final round in New York City. Last year’s Tournament winner was Jonathan Wendel, known online as “Fatal1ty.” His winnings over the course of the tournament totaled nearly a quarter-million dollars.

This year’s tour was to have been centered around Quake IV, and was predicted to be even bigger than 2005. Although the official announcement has yet to be made, CPL founder Angel Mu?has told interviewers that the 2006 Tournament is definitely off.

New tournaments are coming into existence, however. The World Series of Video Games and Kode 5 are hoping to attract even larger numbers of participants. More licenses are being purchased by pro-gaming tournament organizers in nations throughout the world, so don’t give up those pro-gaming dreams just yet.