After a number of announcements to change the upcoming schedule of the CPL World Tour, another has sparked quite a bit of controversy with the console community. Tournament organizers X-Factor had previously announced their $1,000,000 Halo 3 FFA Tournament would be held at the CPL Winter 2007 event. Creating a legendary amount of hype, this seemed to be the move that would send CPL into the console competition area with force.

Announcement after announcement has changed the future of the Halo 3 tournament as we now stand with a prize that is $900,000 less than previously announced. An email was sent to all players that were involved in the tournament by X-Factor themselves as stated on the following page. This email attacked many involved in the Halo 3 tournament stating a number of things, including that other tournament organizers would not allow their players to participate in the CPL Halo 3 tournament. Other problems included anonymous spammers on CPL forums and using the G7 announcement that the CPL does not pay all of it's winners as a defense as to why everything has changed.

For players paying a $475 fee for registration, this would definitely put a dent on their plans. Now players are backing out due to the announcement by X-Factor. An entrant to the CPL Winter Halo 3 tournament, Peter "Foulacy" Dietrich of Halo 2's MLG professional team Perfect Storm, was able to speak to us about his view on the situation.

"The most recent announcement by CPL and X-Factor, with concern to the prize pool reduction for their Halo3 tournament, came as a surprise to me because of some of the reasons given for the reduction. One such reason given was: "Tournament organizations have prevented their signed players from participating in the competition and in some cases have contacted registered players and asked them to cancel." I have been a pro player with Major League Gaming for 2 years and they have always supported their players in participating in all tournaments. I have played in several other leagues over the course of my time with MLG and I had a great time, every time."

Chris Comer, VP of Operations for X-Factor, did not return our email requesting a comment.

Obviously there is plenty to say about what happened, however all will be said and done once the CPL Winter tour begins in Dallas, Texas on December 17. For the email sent to players in its entirety, check the following page.