DreamHack not only boasts the world’s largest LAN party and a festival type music line up, but also one of the most diversified eSports line ups in the world. Almost every game that is played on top level in the eSports world has a tournament at DreamHack and the corresponding prizepool is huge. Top players from all over the world fly in each year to have a chance at winning thousands and thousands of dollars in prizemoney.
Top team like Fnatic, Team Liquid, Na’Vi, SK Gaming and many others fly in their, sometimes, multiple teams to play against each other. It’s not only about the money they can win. It’s about the fans, the wins and the road to glory. Whom will be crowned DreamHack kings for this Winter 2013?
We made an overview of DreamHack’s eSports roster:
STARCRAFT II: HEART OF THE SWARM
The biggest game at DreamHack, and the epic conclusion of one full year of StarCraft. Kicked off in Stockholm this April and after four stops finally arriving at DreamHack Winter. The players are known and have fought their way into the final over the past year. We expect fireworks, as usual, especially during the Grand Finals.
Prizepurse: 500.000 SEK
Players: Names like NaNiwa (p), TLO (z), Life (z), ForGG (t) and HerO (p)
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DotA2
This announcement made some waves in the eSports community. Not only was DreamHack promising a full 2014 Season of DotA2 games, they also announced a kick-off season in 2013 including finals at DreamHack Winter. DotA2 is an Action RTS that has grown very popular in the past year, growing faster than other games in the genre. For the fans it is a Defense of the Ancients type game in it’s purest form. Although it is a smaller tournament with only a few teams, it should be interesting to see this first kick-off season reach it’s finals.
Prizepurse: 50.000 USD
Teams: Alliance, Team Liquid, Fnatic, Na’Vi
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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Another big surprise was the announcement for DreamHack’ CS:GO tournament. CS1.6 has finally been put to rest, and it’s replacement starts with a bang. With the biggest prize pool of all the eSports games at DreamHack, and actually more than 50% of the total cash prizepurse DreamHack boasts this Winter, this could get very exciting, very fast. Besides the pro-teams that have been invited there are also two BYOC spots available that will be played on the first day. This is going to be big.
Prizepurse: 250.000 USD
Teams: NiP, compLexity, Fnatic, SK-Gaming and many more.
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League of Legends
One of the biggest MOBA titles around right now. DreamHack and LoL have a big history, like beating streaming records when RiotGames first had their million dollar tournament during DreamHack. The stream had thousands of views even during the build-up of the stage where the games would be played. Next to StarCraft II this is probably going to be one of the best viewed tournaments during DreamHack, and we at Intel Pack4DreamHack have a lot of fans of the game.
Prizepurse: 195.000 SEK
Teams: NiP, SK-Gaming, H2K Gaming and many more.
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Heroes of Newerth
The other big MOBA title. Maybe not as popular as League of Legends is, but it also boasts a broad fanbase. The tournament is partly filled with past winners, but also has a BYOC qualifier beforehand. Most teamnames are not known outside of the HoN fanbase and these could prove to be fun games during the Main Tournament.
Prizepurse: 195.000 SEK
Teams: Stay Green, Lions eSports Klubb, Too Much Sugar and many more.
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BattleField 4
The second team-shooter in this list. With the game just launched recently the big names haven’t ‘settled in’ like big teams at DotA2 and LoL have. However, big names have won the online qualifiers and these teamnames are known throughout the world for being professionals in the FPS genre. With a big stage and lots of expectations, this could prove to be interesting. It’s very different from your usual CS:GO game and that makes it all the more interesting.
Prizepurse: 100.000 SEK
Teams: Team aAa, Dignitas, mYm, Fnatic and many more.
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Quake Live
Quake Live is an online version of Quake III, playable through your webbrowser. It’s one of the oldest FPS around and the fanbase is solid, while the gameplay is lightning fast. The fanbase is solid and the gameplay is lightning fast. Expect crazy speeds, crazy trick jumps and even crazier trick shots. These players get everything out of any mouse they play with. With a total of 32 players, the weekend should be filled with all the Quake action you could ever want to see.
Prizepurse: 100.000 SEK
Players: Cypher, Rapha, fazz, k1llsen, dem0n and many more.
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Super Street Fighter IV
The only fighting game on the roster. SSFIV and DreamHack have one of the longest histories of all the games listed here. It’s really a niche sport, but a good one at that. Most spectators that have never seen a game won’t believe the effort these players make to run in the top of the world. Expectations are high for this tournament since it has the biggest SSFIV names in the history of the tournament.
Prizepurse: 100.000 SEK
Players: Prodigal SOn, TOKIDO, 2DGOD, The Beast and many more.
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Besides these official tournaments there is actually even more to do during DreamHack on the eSports front. There is a whole range of gaming being played under the eSportsSM banner, especially for the BYOC players. Prize purses here are mostly products from sponsors like headsets, mouses and keyboards. Many booth’s at the DreamExpo also have their own little tournaments for BYOC players.
In total the prize purse nearly hits the 500.000 dollars, a huge amount and all the before mentioned teams and players will be joining the fight for cash and glory.
If you are going to DreamHack for eSports then you are at the right spot.
