The CGS (Championship Gaming Series) pulled the rug from under professional gamers today when it officially announced that its doors will be closing. The CGS was a fantastic pro-gaming league with top players from around the world competing live on National TV for not only bragging rights but big money. Details on the demise of The CGS are scarce so far but we have this from CADRED.ORG who broke the story on the Internet.
While the concept was ahead of its time and we are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, it became increasingly clear as this ambitious project evolved, that profitability was too far in the future for us to sustain operations in the interim.
Our goal was to be ahead of the curve in the e-sports space, and conceived of CGS as a true sports league. We invested wholeheartedly in the venture and presented viewers with a top-notch production, but the economics just didn’t add up for us at this time.
Professional gaming leagues have always struggled to gain notoriety in non-gaming channels. The struggle to appeal and engage e-sports to wide spread outlets will go on. The CGS went ‘big’ this year with ties to DirecTV and G4tv and Hollywood celebrites in attendance. Many friends of COIN-OP TV were involved with The CGS and we’re sad to hear this news and hope the best as they move on to their next venture!
It is truly unfortunate that this has happened.
–GCII
I figured this was happening when they didn’t post the video for CGS Live. I am very disappointed, but I acknowledge that the accomplished more than what any other competitive video gaming league has done. They brought together a world into friendly sport that everyone knows, while still keeping it entertaining and not making it seem like there were commercials going the whole time. The only reason why CGS’s competition lives on is because they have made more than a quarter of the time that a consumer is consuming either media or other elements from Sponsors or Affiliates. If you want to watch a video on MLGPro.com, you either have to watch a commercial based on products from either Stride or Dr. Pepper.
With this announcement happening now, most of these gamers that would have competed in The World Cyber games might not have had the time to prepare for it. As Rob so kindly put, I wish luck to those gamers that don’t know where to move on from where they have been left.
Here are some final words to reflect on: Gamers never let getting fired from your job, not getting the best grades, or any other conflict bother you to not be able to enjoy gaming. Opportunities will open up. With lost jobs, there will be jobs that will be formed whether in different industries or just different companies. I wish all that were affected by this well. GAME ON!