Esports Tournaments To Be Held Online Through 2020
DreamHack Offering Online Content to Keep Fans Connected
STOCKHOLM — Today, DreamHack has announced the postponement of its remaining festivals in 2020: DreamHack Rotterdam, DreamHack Hyderabad, DreamHack Atlanta, DreamHack Winter and DreamHack Madrid. The decision was made as the world continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic — events of this magnitude are not possible at a time when health and safety is the priority.
“The goal for all of us at DreamHack is to provide great experiences at our events, which thrive by bringing communities together for these shared and beloved festival weekends all around the globe,” said DreamHack Co-CEO Marcus Lindmark. “We have never had to postpone events like this before — but these are extraordinary times, and the safety of our attendees and staff has never been more important than now.”
DreamHack’s festivals will continue to feature everything gaming under one roof, including pro esports tournaments, amateur and varsity gaming tournaments, world-famous bring your own computer (BYOC) LAN party, freeplay area, influencer appearances, cosplay championship, panels, art, activities, expo, film screenings, live music and more.
Lindmark continued: “This has been a very different year for everyone, but we are fully committed to bringing our festivals back in 2021. DreamHack will continue to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten), as well as other national health authorities for guidance on resuming our festivals. Until then, we will continue to innovate so we can connect with our fans through great content.”
The affected events are:
- DreamHack Rotterdam — originally scheduled for October 16-18, 2020
- DreamHack Hyderabad — originally scheduled for October 31-November 1, 2020
- DreamHack Atlanta — originally scheduled for November 13-15, 2020
- DreamHack Winter — originally scheduled for November 27-29, 2020
- DreamHack Madrid — originally scheduled for December 11-13, 2020
Earlier this summer, DreamHack Dallas, DreamHack Summer and DreamHack Montreal were also postponed to 2021. Complete schedule of festival dates and locations for 2021 will be announced later this year. Full details will be at dreamhack.com when available.
ONLINE ESPORTS EVENTS AND FAN CONTENT
DreamHack has been offering numerous online esports tournaments and events in lieu of its festivals, in addition to six new online content programs such as podcasts, game shows, trivia contests, community tournaments and more.
“We at DreamHack stay committed to offering the best esports events for our fans and followers, even if it needs to be in an alternate format for now,” said DreamHack Chief Product Officer Michael Van Driel. “In order to bring these events to our fans, DreamHack’s tournaments will continue to be offered online. It is very important that these tournaments still be played, which provides esports players with great opportunities while also giving viewers entertaining esports to enjoy from all around the world.”
DREAMHACK OPEN FEATURING FORTNITE
DreamHack Open Featuring Fortnite consists of monthly, online tournaments for Europe, North America East, and North America West. A total of $1.75 million USD will be awarded, with a prize pool of $250,000 up for grabs every month through January 2021.
Registration for the August Solo tournament is available HERE. All monthly tournaments will be produced and broadcast live on Twitch by DreamHack. The competitions are open to anyone 13 years of age or older.
DREAMHACK OPEN SUMMER (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
DreamHack Open Summer features four regional tournaments — Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania — and a collective prize pool of $300,000. The tournament started with Stage 1 in June and is now moving into Stage 2 for all regions except Asia.
- DreamHack Open Summer Europe — Stage 2 begins August 8
- DreamHack Open Summer North America — Stage 2 begins August 8
- DreamHack Open Summer Oceania — Stage 2 begins August 7
- DreamHack Open Summer Asia — Stage 1 begins August 7
Additional information such as participating teams and tournament format can be found at dreamhack.com/open.
DREAMHACK STARCRAFT 2 MASTERS and DREAMHACK WARCRAFT 3 OPEN
All DreamHack Starcraft 2 Masters and DreamHack Warcraft 3 Open stops of 2020 have been moved online as we, together with ESL, reworked the ESL Pro Tour for the two games. ESL Pro Tour Starcraft 2 now consists of three DreamHack Starcraft 2 Masters online tournaments, Summer, Fall and Winter. ESL Pro Tour Warcraft 3 consists of three DreamHack Warcraft 3 Open online tournaments, Summer, Fall and Winter.
NORTHERN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP (NLC)
The inaugural season of the NLC, the 2020 Summer Split, is ready for the playoffs. The top four teams of each group — eight teams in total — will battle it out in the hunt for the NLC title and two European Masters spots. More information is available on the Northern League of Legends Championship website.
DREAMHACK TO HOST FALL REGIONAL MAJOR RANKING TOURNAMENT IN EUROPE
Valve, the publisher of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), has appointed DreamHack as one of the organizers of the Fall Regional Major Ranking (RMR) tournament set to take place later this year. The RMR is a new system implemented this year in which teams can gather points in the hunt for a spot in the prestigious CS:GO majors. More information about the RMR system can be found HERE. DreamHack’s RMR tournament will take place in mid-October, with additional details to be released within the next few weeks. Stay tuned on dreamhack.com/open.
DREAMHACK SHOWDOWN FALL
The next 2020 DreamHack Showdown will take place later this fall, and will feature two regional competitions in Europe and North America. These events have been adjusted to an online format where players, broadcast talent and fans can all join the action from secure locations. The online tournament will take place over two weekends with a total of six broadcast days. More details will be announced.
- Tournament Format
- The tournament will be played over the course of three days.
- The tournament in both regions will be played with a double-elimination bracket with two invited teams and four teams coming from open qualifiers.
- The two direct invited teams will be seeded into the second round of the upper-bracket, while the four teams from open qualifiers will face each other in the first round
- The final will be played best-of-three with no upper-bracket advantage.
DREAMHACK ORIGINAL CONTENT
A total of six original programs premiered online in June, offering witty and engaging content throughout each week of summer, packed with offerings for the community, including: DreamHack Tonight, DreamHack Plays, DreamHack Download, Bonus Round, Community Clash, and DreamHack Quiz.
Coupled with existing online tournaments and events, the new programs will offer fans up to six days of DreamHack content each week throughout the summer months. Offering a diverse portfolio of gaming-lifestyle content across various platforms, the new programs will expand the experiences of competing with friends, watching creators play favorite games, and learning the latest gaming trends.
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