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Today, News from SCBOY that Oliveira was set to make his return this year has left the Chinese community particularly disappointed in EWC's decision to drop StarCraft II.
I will quote SCBOY.Xiaose directly:
"The situation right now is very tricky; everyone is completely baffled. The main thing is, up until last week, basically everyone(people working in the scene) was operating under the version of reality where EWC was happening. Vendors in Europe and America had received requests for EWC qualifier proposals, and the GSL folks were involved too—over a month ago, they even asked me for data on GSL broadcasts in China. Even on our end, we had heard talk about requirements for Chinese qualifiers.
Originally, Shenkui (a major shareholder of LPL club Invictus Gaming and who used to be the owner of former sc2 club KaiZi Gaming and DPG) had already worked it out with Li Peinan (Oliveira). The plan was, if there was an EWC this year, Oliveira would join iG for a one-year comeback. iG would then sign two other top-tier overseas players to form a 'Golden Roster' and really make a splash.
But then, this week EWC suddenly announced there’s no StarCraft, so everyone is pretty stunned. We don't know the specific situation yet; we're waiting for feedback from Blizzard this week to see what exactly went wrong.
However, since things have come to this, it’s like I always say: if it happens, it happens; if it doesn't, it doesn't. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it and just roll with the punches.
A whole new scene isn't impossible. Screw it, let's just get it done."
Update: Source SCREENTSHOT and LINK provided. (Note: However, the post is on SCBOY's forum, the biggest CN community forum, which requires a Chinese phone number to register and view.)
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let's just get it done.
Yes! Let's do those things without ewc anyway.
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If EWC was actually putting out proposals this is the ultimate tease and is very unfortunate. I do wonder if it was Blizzard that caused it?
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oof, what a shame. i wonder if blizzard got outbidded or something.
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On January 23 2026 12:55 redloser wrote:
any source?
Provided 
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On January 23 2026 11:15 LaughNgamezYT wrote:
If EWC was actually putting out proposals this is the ultimate tease and is very unfortunate. I do wonder if it was Blizzard that caused it?
Based on information from multiple sources, EWC requires publishers to pay a fee or provide some forms of support for each game. The deal likely fell through because either Blizzard had absolutely no interest in supporting SC2, or they failed to agree on the price at the very last minute.
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Reasons like this are why no one should support the Blizzard Helldivers clone when it comes out.
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On January 24 2026 11:25 LaughNgamezYT wrote:
Reasons like this are why no one should support the Blizzard Helldivers clone when it comes out.
I hate Blizzard with a passion. Their next game would have to be the COE33 kind of incredible for me to give them money lol
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China/TW/HK can pick up more slack
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Youll get to see him in the Douyou Cup later this month
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That’s really disappointing news, especially if teams and players were already preparing around the expectation that StarCraft II would be included. Oliveira’s possible return with iG would have brought a lot of attention back to the scene. Hopefully Blizzard or EWC explains what changed, because the timing makes the decision feel very abrupt.
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EPT
