DreamHack is a Swedish ESL Gaming brand that focuses on esports tournaments and gaming conventions. At its core, it is a large LAN party and computer festival. It has been recognized by Guinness World Records and Twin Galaxies as the world's largest event with the fastest Internet connection and the most Internet traffic. It began as a Swedish event but now holds events in Western Europe, North America, and other regions.

Events summary

DreamHack's events include local network gatherings with live music, art contests, and video game competitions. The first event took place in Malung, Sweden. The company has hosted gaming events in several European cities, including Stockholm, Jönköping, Tours, Bucharest, Cluj, Valencia, Seville, London, and Leipzig. In May 2016, it held its first North American event in Austin, Texas. In August 2016, it held its first Canadian event in Montreal, Quebec. Winter events usually have about 10% more visitors than summer events.

Attendees include people from elementary school age up to senior citizens. The average age of visitors is 16–17.

The event has five main parts:

DreamHack events are organized with the help of around 800 volunteers, who are grouped into "Crew Teams" and take turns working to provide continuous support for visitors. A support crew operates a helpdesk where people can get help with technical issues. The festival also involves local police and security officers who walk around the event area.

History

Dreamhack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends in the basement of an elementary school in Malung, Sweden, in the early 1990s. In 1994, the event moved to the school cafeteria and became one of the largest regional demo tech and gaming events in that area. This event was also the first to be called DreamHack.

In 1997, the event was held at Arena Kupolen in Borlänge and became the largest LAN party in Sweden and the third largest in Scandinavia at that time. Later, DreamHack 2001 and following events took place at the Elmia exhibition center in Jönköping. These events continued there until the last DreamHack Jönköping in 2023, both in the summer and winter. In 2024, the event left Jönköping after being held there for 30 years.

In 2002, DreamHack held events twice a year. At first, the summer event in June focused on computer games, while the winter event, held during the last weekend of November, focused more on computer program demos. Today, both summer and winter events have the same focus.

In 2011, DreamHack AB underwent a company reorganization, updating its management structure.

The DreamHack Winter 2011 event hosted the League of Legends Season 1 World Championship. The next year’s League of Legends World Championship was held separately.

On November 15, 2012, DreamHack announced partnerships with Major League Gaming (MLG) and Electronic Sports League (ESL) to help grow the esports scene in North America and Europe. These partnerships included shared rankings, unified competition formats, and other efforts.

In 2013, DreamHack AB became a corporation. Later, a third event was added during late summer in Stockholm. This event was held at Globe Arenas in 2014.

In November 2015, Modern Times Group purchased DreamHack for 244 million Swedish krona.

In response to more older gamers participating, DreamHack hosted the first senior World Cup for Counter Strike in June 2019.

On September 30, 2020, ESL announced that it had merged with DreamHack. The two companies now operate as one, but they keep their separate brand names.