Men's interest television channel ProSieben MAXX in Germany has canceled its weekend showing of Turner and WME|IMG's Counter-Strike league, ELeague, due to the recent tragedy in Munich, as reported by German CS:GO site 99Damage today.
The channel was originally set to broadcast ELeague's semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday this week, which will include German national team mousesports. However, due to the shootings in Munich on July 22, those at the television station decided to pull ELeague off air this week.
Matthias Remmert, the CEO of German gaming marketing agency Freaks 4U -- which was involved in the promotion and setup of ELeague's German broadcasts, both on television and Twitch -- released a statement to 99Damage today:
"Today, ELeague's show has been canceled and the TV channel won't show its last episode," he says. "I think it's sad that such an event takes away the chance to show every non-esports fan how awesome this sport can be. It was a beautiful journey to represent the german esports scene in TV and am thankful to every single viewer, especially those who worked closely with us to give feedback."
Fear of violent video games encouraging harm is not new to Germany. In 2011, Germany banned graphic fighting game Mortal Kombat due to the gore and violence depicted in the game. Counter-Strike has not run into this issue until now, and is one of the more popular first-person shooters in Europe.
Translation courtesy of Marcel Feldkamp