Professional Gamers League

Professional Gamers League
SportCommand & Conquer: Red Alert
Quake
Quake II
Total Annihilation
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Founded1997
Owner(s)Total Entertainment Network
CommissionerNolan Bushnell
CountryUnited States
Sponsor(s)Advanced Micro Devices
Microsoft
Nvidia

The AMD Professional Gamers League (PGL), founded in 1997, was one of the first professional esports leagues. The PGL was run by Total Entertainment Network and was sponsored by AMD.[1][2] The league was officially unveiled at a press conference at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on November 3, 1997, with Nolan Bushnell as league commissioner.[2] It was sponsored by Microsoft,[3] Nvidia,[4] and Levi Strauss & Co.[5] The organization raised over $1.2mil USD in sponsorship money.[6] Additionally, TEN hoped to monetize the league by allowing anyone to enter the league, as long as they paid the $10 subscription fee to the TEN service.[2] PGL lasted for four seasons of competition before going inactive.[7]

PGL operated two competitions per season: one in the "Action" category and one in the "Strategy" category. The action category featured Quake in the first season, and Quake II for the three seasons after.[8] The strategy category initially featured Command & Conquer: Red Alert,[9] and later featured Starcraft.

Nearly 1,400 players entered qualification for the first season's Quake competition, which took place online.[10] After the online qualifiers narrowed the field to 256 players, the first-ever PGL Finals took place on January 30 and January 31, 1998, in Seattle, Washington at the Sega GameWorks super-arcade. Both the Red Alert and Quake tournaments featured 1 on 1 play with David "DeepBlue" Magro winning the Red Alert tournament and Dennis "Thresh" Fong winning the Quake tournament. Each player won $7,500 and new AMD computers.[11]

Season 2 took place in Atlanta, in May 1998. This was the first tournament to feature Quake II after its 1997 release, along with Total Annihilation.

Season 3 hosted the first ever Starcraft World Championship, where 128 players from around the globe competed in online qualification in August and September 6, 1998. The final eight competitors then played live in San Francisco, CA.[12] Jay "Gadianton" Severson took first place going undefeated in the double-elimination bracket to win $8500 and a new AMD computer.[12] Season 3 again featured Quake II, and Thresh easily won the category's final.[12]

The fourth and final season took place in New York City in May 1999, featuring Quake II and StarCraft.[13]

In 2000, Gamers.com, founded by former PGL star Thresh,[1] acquired the PGL from Pogo.com, after PGL had been inactive for a year.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Lee, Jonathan D. (July 23, 2015). "Thresh: How the World's First Pro Gamer is Still Changing Esports". 1337 Magazine. Aller Media. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Miller, Greg (November 3, 1997). "Out of the Arcade". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  3. ^ LaPlante, Alice; Seidner, Rich (April 26, 1999). Playing for Profit: How Digital Entertainment is Making Big Business Out of Child's Play (First ed.). Wiley. p. 163.
  4. ^ "Professional Gamers League Chooses NVIDIA as Official 3D Graphics Technology". Nvidia. November 11, 1998. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Gamespot Staff (November 3, 1997). "Online Gamer League Comes Out". GameSpot. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  6. ^ Brown, Janelle (December 1, 1997). "Pixel Pros". Wired. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Gamers.com Acquires Professional Gamers' League and Announces Strategic Alliance with AltaVista Network". Los Angeles: Business Wire. May 11, 2000. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  8. ^ Riccardi, John (1 October 1998). "Fiber boosts competitive computer gaming". Cabling Installation & Maintenance. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  9. ^ Jebens, Harley. "The AMD PGL Is Off and Running". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  10. ^ Miller, Greg (December 15, 1997). "In the Playoffs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  11. ^ "AMD(R) Professional Gamers League(TM) Announces Season 3 Plans". PR News wire. July 24, 1998. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c Brown, Janelle (18 November 1998). "Top of the frag heap". Salon. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  13. ^ IGN Staff (9 April 1999). "PGL Finalists Announced". IGN. Retrieved 20 November 2024.