EPTStarCraft 2 Not at the Esports World Cup 2026
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Toshinou-Kyouko
Philippines410 Posts
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luxon
United States117 Posts
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Balnazza
Germany1273 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
Germany1233 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 States1777 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 States1039 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
28 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
199 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
21 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
Finland7160 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 Kingdom1149 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
Germany7106 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
329 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
Germany1273 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
Germany7106 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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