EPTStarCraft 2 not at the Esports World Cup 2026
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Toshinou-Kyouko
Philippines404 Posts
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luxon
United States117 Posts
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Balnazza
Germany1254 Posts
To be clear: This isn't just "according you Tasteless". EWC sadly announced the last game they had left open(Trackmania), so we are done with a 99,99% chance (the last 0,01% is the huge incompetence of the EWCF, who might just randomly decide to pick up an additional game anyway). We can also safely assume that SC2 will not be at ENC either - not that chances for that were high to begin with. Will be an interesting road from here with all the cards on the table. So the next few weeks and months will show who stays and who goes - not that I would blame any pro for going at this point. If you considered playing tournaments in SC2 your career, your career is most likely officially over. That's the shitty part. The good part is, that from here on out, everyone knows "who is who". No content creator or smalelr TO will have to live in "fear" of ESL randomly dropping a huge tournament in your schedule that messes everything up. | ||
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Antithesis
Germany1216 Posts
On January 22 2026 04:24 Balnazza wrote: Will be an interesting road from here with all the cards on the table. So the next few weeks and months will show who stays and who goes - not that I would blame any pro for going at this point. If you considered playing tournaments in SC2 your career, your career is most likely officially over. That's the shitty part. The good part is, that from here on out, everyone knows "who is who". No content creator or smalelr TO will have to live in "fear" of ESL randomly dropping a huge tournament in your schedule that messes everything up. There is in fact one thing which might still shake up the scene in the future. In his video Tasteless claims with surprising confidence the reason why EWC dropped SC2 is not a lack of viewers or anything of the sort but rather that they could not come to an agreement with Blizzard. I do not know if this is true and I did not hear this from any other source but if it is true it means SC2 can return to EWC if and when Blizzard decides to support SC2 in the fashion demanded by EWC, whatever those terms might be. And as other Blizzard titles are at EWC, such an agreement is not in principle out of the question. But again I do not know whether Tasteless is right. | ||
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ssg
United States1776 Posts
On January 22 2026 05:11 Antithesis wrote: There is in fact one thing which might still shake up the scene in the future. In his video Tasteless claims with surprising confidence the reason why EWC dropped SC2 is not a lack of viewers or anything of the sort but rather that they could not come to an agreement with Blizzard. I do not know if this is true and I did not hear this from any other source but if it is true it means SC2 can return to EWC if and when Blizzard decides to support SC2 in the fashion demanded by EWC, whatever those terms might be. And as other Blizzard titles are at EWC, such an agreement is not in principle out of the question. But again I do not know whether Tasteless is right. The new SC FPS is headlining blizzcon this year. If they truly are blocking it i think they just want sc2 to be seen as nothing more than a legacy game at this point so they can move the franchise forward elsewhere. | ||
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luxon
United States117 Posts
On January 22 2026 04:24 Balnazza wrote: Yeah, fuck you Wombat!....what did you do though? ._. Nah he's cool I'm just giving him a hard time lol. He was always virtue signaling about boycotting EWC because it was run by the saudi's, which would inevitably lead to them canceling sc2 when the viewership numbers were bad. I thought it was rather silly given that our ecosystem needs every injection of life it can get. | ||
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Agh
United States1027 Posts
On January 22 2026 05:11 Antithesis wrote: In his video Tasteless claims with surprising confidence the reason why EWC dropped SC2 is not a lack of viewers or anything of the sort but rather that they could not come to an agreement with Blizzard. I do not know if this is true and I did not hear this from any other source but if it is true it means SC2 can return to EWC if and when Blizzard decides to support SC2 in the fashion demanded by EWC, whatever those terms might be. And as other Blizzard titles are at EWC, such an agreement is not in principle out of the question. But again I do not know whether Tasteless is right. Haven't watched or listened but fairly certain our info comes from the same grapevine. There are a lot of petty exchanges and stances from both sides that do nothing for the players & fans and just make both entities look pretty silly. I think both lose out in the end, and in the long run the genre is what suffers. I don't really blame Blizzard in this particular instance but their track record has been pretty horrid with just about every aspect of their competitive titles, much less the esports handling. As far as SC2 goes I'd be more upset but honestly with the current patch the game is a bit of a snoozefest, and just as unhealthy if not more than the previous patch. | ||
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LaughNgamezYT
22 Posts
On January 22 2026 08:14 Agh wrote: Haven't watched or listened but fairly certain our info comes from the same grapevine. There are a lot of petty exchanges and stances from both sides that do nothing for the players & fans and just make both entities look pretty silly. I think both lose out in the end, and in the long run the genre is what suffers. I don't really blame Blizzard in this particular instance but their track record has been pretty horrid with just about every aspect of their competitive titles, much less the esports handling. As far as SC2 goes I'd be more upset but honestly with the current patch the game is a bit of a snoozefest, and just as unhealthy if not more than the previous patch. It's almost like half assed patches leave the game in a worse state than no patches. | ||
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TeamMamba
165 Posts
Pig also mentioned in his video thwt he will be hosting the biggest Pig tournament prize pool ever. He will be announcing it in a few weeks | ||
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BrewKnowURSA
20 Posts
Stellar Fest 1 has given UrsaTV a great audition tape, opening doors at both Ottawa's tourism and entrepreneurial sector support organizations. In the short-term, it will allow us to follow the example of Bellum Gens in Bulgaria, who have successfully used esports and StarCraft II to showcase the Stara Zagora region. My ultimate ambition is opening a place like Germany's TaKeBar, in my city of Ottawa. My first esports event was HSC 22 - A Winter's Dream. The experience was magical... I loved how a crowd of all ages, from all over the world got to mingle with pro-gamers and content creators in an humble, underrated German town. I'm soon returning to Krefeld for more "market research" and pints during HSC 28. Go Pinguines! Avoid the Essacher Luft. Within a few months of HSC 22, I started pursuing the idea seriously, adjusting my life towards entrepreneurship. I'm not sure how close I am to the dream of a venue just yet, but Stellar Fest helps me define the market in Ottawa. This winter, I'll leverage the mentorship program at Invest Ottawa for the first steps towards commercial real estate, defining a financial strategy and timeline for an Ottawa-based esports venue. Meanwhile, my day-to-day is focused on the plans for Stellar Fest 2 for Fall 2026 in Ottawa, which will more than likely be in a rented venue again. In 2026, we hope to secure UrsaTV / Stellar Fest's first sponsors. I'm blown away by this weekend's venue at the Thunderfire StarCraft II All-Star Invitational - the Hangzhou Esports Center looked epic on tv. China's esports infrastructure is clearly world-leading... looks like they're in a great position to grow (and... arguably offer a better product than the EWC). I'm aiming for the future home of UrsaTV to be near LeBreton Flats in Ottawa... the areas of Mechanicsville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Hintonburg. I share this because the area will transform over the next decade as our local NHL team moves from the suburbs to LeBreton Flats. Maybe Stellar Fest 10, 15 or 20 can be in an Arena. Here's the short- medium- and long- term... peak behind the UrsaTV curtain, as we process the news of a changing StarCraft II landscape and EWC's long, quiet, and unceremonious abandonment of StarCraft II. | ||
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Luolis
Finland7156 Posts
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Creager
Germany1923 Posts
On January 22 2026 13:35 LaughNgamezYT wrote: It's almost like half assed patches leave the game in a worse state than no patches. Amen. | ||
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SHODAN
United Kingdom1146 Posts
On January 22 2026 13:35 LaughNgamezYT wrote: It's almost like half assed patches leave the game in a worse state than no patches. this only makes sense if the game balance isn't half-assed to begin with! | ||
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Ser Galachad
6 Posts
On January 22 2026 07:45 luxon wrote: Nah he's cool I'm just giving him a hard time lol. He was always virtue signaling about boycotting EWC because it was run by the saudi's, which would inevitably lead to them canceling sc2 when the viewership numbers were bad. I thought it was rather silly given that our ecosystem needs every injection of life it can get. Well if gaming needs that money to sustain then I personally don't need gaming so consider me virtue signaling as well. I'd rather it die or just be some youtuber ran low level tournaments than build it on slavery. Yeah, you could argue that a lot of things in capitalism is ran that way, but I can't live without food and I need technology to function, I don't need a 1million dollar tournament run by Saudis to function. | ||
nimdil
Poland3752 Posts
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Harris1st
Germany7040 Posts
On January 22 2026 08:14 Agh wrote: Haven't watched or listened but fairly certain our info comes from the same grapevine. There are a lot of petty exchanges and stances from both sides that do nothing for the players & fans and just make both entities look pretty silly. I think both lose out in the end, and in the long run the genre is what suffers. I don't really blame Blizzard in this particular instance but their track record has been pretty horrid with just about every aspect of their competitive titles, much less the esports handling. As far as SC2 goes I'd be more upset but honestly with the current patch the game is a bit of a snoozefest, and just as unhealthy if not more than the previous patch. I believe there were numerous reports from players, casters and other insiders about last years EWC which had the same obstacle (Blizzard) and was the reason SC2 was announced so late as a EWC title. So no surpirse here really. Blizzard is a shitty company and Microsoft doesn't care | ||
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rwala
328 Posts
On January 22 2026 07:45 luxon wrote: Nah he's cool I'm just giving him a hard time lol. He was always virtue signaling about boycotting EWC because it was run by the saudi's, which would inevitably lead to them canceling sc2 when the viewership numbers were bad. I thought it was rather silly given that our ecosystem needs every injection of life it can get. Or perhaps he was just voicing a thoughtful perspective? Virtue signaling has a negative connotation because it suggests that the goal is to signal beliefs that are insincerely or cynically or opportunistically held. It doesn’t apply well here because clearly in this community this is the unpopular, minority position so there isn’t much to be gained by “signaling it,” as these comments demonstrate. Even if you don’t care about human rights, one could argue that if your game has been abandoned by the publisher and is relying on Saudi money to stay afloat, that’s an extremely precarious position to be in. But of course there’s also no question that this is a huge loss for the players who rely on this prize pool and everything that comes with it (e.g. team salaries and support) to justify continuing to playing at the professional level. | ||
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Creager
Germany1923 Posts
About Tasteless' thoughts: The way I see it the fundamental flaw with esports will never get solved unless we get to a point in time where competitively played games become public domain. As long as esports are just a marketing vehicle for publishers to promote their games and are gatekept behind licensing fees, you will never achieve the same infrastructural quality as with real sports. | ||
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Balnazza
Germany1254 Posts
On January 22 2026 19:51 Harris1st wrote: I believe there were numerous reports from players, casters and other insiders about last years EWC which had the same obstacle (Blizzard) and was the reason SC2 was announced so late as a EWC title. So no surpirse here really. Blizzard is a shitty company and Microsoft doesn't care Not really reports, just rumours. That I also never fully bought tbh. Why would Blizzard be the "mimimi"-lord about SC2 when OW2 was and is at EWC, even as part as their official circuit if I recall correctly? | ||
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Harris1st
Germany7040 Posts
On January 23 2026 01:46 Creager wrote: We had a pretty good run with the esports side of SC2, I think, these will be remembered as the twilight years in the history books, but compared to how prior titles like BW and WC3 were handled I think as one of the last 'true' RTS titles we were pretty damn privileged with what we got. About Tasteless' thoughts: The way I see it the fundamental flaw with esports will never get solved unless we get to a point in time where competitively played games become public domain. As long as esports are just a marketing vehicle for publishers to promote their games and are gatekept behind licensing fees, you will never achieve the same infrastructural quality as with real sports. Esports just needs to find a way to more live TV air time or even better some streaming service which is IMO where the most money is. I mean football is like what, 80% financed through media money? | ||
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ProTech
United States440 Posts
LoTV gutted the core game-play and isn't fun by any stretch of the imagination, so naturally things were going to implode eventually, meanwhile BroodWar domestically within Korea is far more popular than LoTV has ever been and even will be. LoTV is simply a waiting-room for the next iteration of StarCraft whether that's an RTS or a different Genre altogether. | ||
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Balnazza
Germany1254 Posts
On January 23 2026 21:32 ProTech wrote: Not sure why this comes to a surprise for some people, StarCraft has not felt like StarCraft since the launch of LoTV. LoTV gutted the core game-play and isn't fun by any stretch of the imagination, so naturally things were going to implode eventually, meanwhile BroodWar domestically within Korea is far more popular than LoTV has ever been and even will be. LoTV is simply a waiting-room for the next iteration of StarCraft whether that's an RTS or a different Genre altogether. LotV was released over 10 years ago btw... | ||
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Agh
United States1027 Posts
On January 24 2026 00:49 Balnazza wrote: LotV was released over 10 years ago btw... Even though it's just a vent post a lot of people share the frustrations, just not particularly for the same reasons. Popularity doesn't mean quality, there are a lot of "popular" things that are either straight up objectively bad, or have gaping flaws. WoL launched with mules, forcefields, and multiple free units. (Not to mention the shoebox maps and several other things). These were fundamental flaws that needed to be changed in some way. This isn't hindsight either, myself and others pointed this out and expressed our opinions the second we got our hands on the beta. Many were hopeful for HotS, myself included. Instead we're met with even more free units (swarm hosts), the widow mine (probably the biggest offender in the entirety of the game), and a turbo roll of duct tape called the mothership core in an attempt to band aid some of the issues P faced. Oh let's not forget the warhound.. which thankfully got axed courtesy of yours truly. All of the above snowballed the mass exodus of the playerbase. Which is saying a lot since this is also the point where WCS was starting to throw money around. LotV comes around, all of the above still exists less the mothership core. No changes to curb the frustrating aspects of the game, and instead they just keep piling it on. We get the liberator, lurker, disruptor, and droppable sieged tanks. Can't forget the nuclear speed of the game thanks to the economy changes. (Additional workers and supply increase of town halls). Combine all this with not monetizing the game until it's practically on it's deathbed, a terrible custom game interface, and no social aspect and you get the sad state of RTS, where the most known and recognized title can't even make it to the largest multi tournament event. | ||
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Balnazza
Germany1254 Posts
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TeamMamba
165 Posts
On January 23 2026 10:04 Balnazza wrote: Not really reports, just rumours. That I also never fully bought tbh. Why would Blizzard be the "mimimi"-lord about SC2 when OW2 was and is at EWC, even as part as their official circuit if I recall correctly? Just a random guess it’s might be OW2 still a relative new game and still making money for Blizzard. Whereas SC2 is making close to zero for Blizzard | ||
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ZombieGrub
United States713 Posts
On January 23 2026 10:04 Balnazza wrote: Not really reports, just rumours. That I also never fully bought tbh. Why would Blizzard be the "mimimi"-lord about SC2 when OW2 was and is at EWC, even as part as their official circuit if I recall correctly? They tried to negotiate circuit support from EWC. EWC supports other events outside of the EWC to a degree, but they aren't looking to be the sole backer of any esport. If you wanted, you could give them credit for trying to support our scene more. You could also argue their interference was a net negative, considering they had already been established as frustrating to deal with (I know OW2 is there, but there's a history for TOs and SC2) and SC2 was already hanging by a thread due to its viewership so any amount of extra frustration, even well-intended, was just an "ugh nevermind". Of course, no one who was actually present at these negotiations would shed light on what specifically went down. I only bring up this Blizzard-EWC 2025 clarification because people just assumed it was EWC's fault for the delay. Anything else, like why we aren't back in 2026, is mostly an unknown...except that our viewership wasn't great and developer support is basically non-existent, two things any TO definitely wants. | ||
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mathphyswithvic
2 Posts
Chat interface is not comparable to bw or wc3. Clans are missing clan wars option and some ladder with points and rewards for clan of the month. Maybe two ladders, most active and most powerful. 2v2/3v3 etc, still miss the build on creep of ally option. There are many quick fixes but no developers in the pipeline unfortunately. | ||
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