The endless rumors proved true today, as the CPL has announced it will be closing its doors for the remainder of 2008 and possibly for good. Announced today on the CPL official website, all planned events and tournaments have been officially canceled with no plans on when operations will return.

Hailed as the founding father of Professional Esports, The CPL has managed to be a leader in Esports for nearly 11 years. Holding events on five continents with large cash prizes, The CPL quickly became a household name in all genres of competitive gaming.

It should be noted that all prize payout obligations from previous CPL events will be fulfilled. To get the complete statement and to read user reactions, head on over to The Official CPL Website.

In probably one of the oddest copyright cases we have seen in quite a while, Futuremark is attempting to trademark the commonly used phrase "PWNAGE". While it may sound like a bad joke, from a legal standpoint, it is far from a laughing matter. While gamers can rest assured that they will not be "charged" each time they use the phrase in the midst of battle, game server providers and corporate entities who use the phrase in business may not be so lucky. Futuremark Executive Producer Jukka Mäkinen explains.

While this is a serious matter, one thing I would really like to see is the judge's face as lawyers attempt to explain the meaning of "PWNAGE".

The NERV is quickly becoming one of the largest Call Of Duty 4 LANS of all time, with 30 teams already pre-paid and ready to go. Held in Allentown Pennsylvania, a large turnout from teams and substantial entrance fees have led to quite a large prize pool.

Prior to next week's event, tournament officials have released the the seeds and brackets for the double elimination tournament. For more information on these seeds and on the tournament itself, head on over to GotFrag, who have got it pretty well covered.

Over the past day or so, the CPL and CAL have gotten themselves into a bit of a controversy. The ordeal all began in a post made on the CAL website and in email by Martijn “CAL|Martijn” Bloemheuvel, alleging that the CPL was dead due to the firings of Chris “CPL|ChrisM” Moncivalles and the imminent firing of Mike “CPL|Allen” Allen. However, soon after the information was released it was taken down off the website, and in an official statement, CAL refuted the allegations and made it clear that Allen, Moncivalles, and Hollingsworth are still employed by CPL.

The post that was removed seemed to be based solely on several rumors that have been floating around the community following a slew of failed events put on by The CPL.While there is no doubt the once great CPL has fallen on hard times, it still claims to be moving forward and the information was in fact false.

When Bloemheuvel was asked as to why he posted the story, he blamed a lack of communication between CPL and CAL as the reason for the error. Interestingly, he continued to stand by his story, claiming he received information from CAL and CPL staff members and remained steadfast in that the story is accurate. Bloemheuvel stated:

You can be sure you will here plenty more about this story in the near future.