Quotes

The goal for all of us at DreamHack is to provide great experiences for our fans, which have traditionally thrived by bringing communities together for these shared and beloved festivals all around the globe.
Marcus Lindmark, President DreamHack, SVP Project and Event Operations at ESL Gaming.
We had an incredible experience hosting the online DreamHack Open Featuring Fortnite in 2020, and are very excited to again partner with Fortnite operator Epic Games to offer another year of Fortnite events for our community.
Viktor Rydbäck, VP Product Management at ESL Gaming
DreamHack creates an arena where you can come to connect, explore, win, play a part, and be yourself through the gaming lifestyle experience. With this ongoing initiative, we’ll bring fans lots of trending gaming news, industry tips and tricks, gamer lifestyles and hobbies, community tournaments, and much more — which allows us to extend the festival experience for our fans online, while also welcoming others to the larger gaming community we love so much.
Justin Burnham, Global Creative Director DreamHack at ESL Gaming
ESL and DreamHack share the same vision of creating an open-ecosystem that provides aspiring players the platform to succeed, following the path from ‘zero to hero.’ Following in the footsteps of what we've announced, we are excited to release the entire year's worth of competition with a roadmap to return to live events.
Shaun Clark, ESL Pro Tour Director at ESL Gaming
We are committed to returning players to a LAN environment and are currently aiming to have fans back in their seats for ESL One Cologne. Of course this is dependent on the very latest guidance and we will release further information relating to the status of all tournaments in due course.
Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President, Produgt Management at ESL Gaming
The first year of the NLC was a huge success, so we couldn’t be happier to continue our partnership with Mastercard — their ongoing support of this industry and our community is immensely valuable. We look forward to offering even more content to our fans of the NLC throughout 2021.
Sebastian Weishaar, Chief Product Officer, ESL Gaming
We are super excited to share this refreshed DreamHack brand — it both celebrates our first 25 years, and looks ahead at our next 25 years. It is vital for us to continue being an arena where our community can come to connect, explore, win, play a part, and be themselves through the gaming lifestyle experience.
Marcus Lindmark, President, DreamHack and SVP, Project and Event Operations at ESL Gaming
The hallmark of DreamHack is the fact that we welcome everyone — from the novice to the expert, and from the very small to the very old, spanning all backgrounds. As we look forward, these beloved festivals will continue to expand into new markets and mediums, growing the reach and impact on our community and partners; and this storied brand will continue offering opportunities to feature pioneers in esports and gaming technology.
Craig Levine, ESL Gaming Co-CEO
It feels great to announce another installment of our popular PUBG tournament. This year's previous two tournaments have been really appreciated which makes it all the more exciting to end the year by expanding into two new regions with our biggest prize pool so far.
Mike Van Driel, SVP, Game Management at ESL Gaming
As a woman, I must say our brand’s ongoing commitment to diversity, both on and off camera, is deeply meaningful to me — so this event has become particularly special to our company. It will be a not-to-be-missed battle to the end!
Charlie Sirc, Showdown Product Manager at ESL Gaming
Gaming has always brought communities together, so all of us at DreamHack want to ensure our valued communities of fans and players are protected from cyberattacks of this nature. These findings are important so everyone involved can also help ensure that, together, we are doing all we can to protect privacy and personal information when engaging on these world stages and global platforms.
Tomas Lyckedal, Strategy and Business Development at ESL Gaming
Passwords alone aren’t enough to protect gamers and their accounts anymore. Many game companies have recognized the need to support multi-factor authentication and provide these capabilities to their customers. It’s wonderful to see that 9 of 10 players are using MFA, now we just need to convince the last 10%.
Martin McKeay, Akamai Editorial Director (and gamer)
Coming together as a community is one of the key components of gaming culture.  This partnership between ESL Gaming's DreamHack and Sweden Game Conference allows us to unite and bring some amazing content from all walks of life in the gaming space to the many gamers, industry pros and fans. Strong collaborations, such as this, allows a message of positivity to focus on what truly matters — the people for whom we create our events, and the enjoyment they experience.
Justin Burnham, Creative Director, Global Festivals at ESL Gaming
We are truly excited to announce our partnership with DreamHack will kick off with Sweden Game Conference. DreamHack has a huge global gaming community, which makes this partnership the first step in our collaboration to further connect game developers and gamers across the globe.
Magnus Ling, Project Manager at Sweden Game Arena
Through maximum cooperation and collaboration, and the melding of some of the best creative and visionary gaming minds in the industry, we will, together, continue to advance the innovation that drives this space via the most exceptional products and events.
Craig Levine, Co-CEO, ESL Gaming
DreamHack has always brought communities together and created the ultimate gaming lifestyle experience for our fans all around the world. This will not change — but by combining our resources with ESL, we can continue to grow these events into something even more spectacular. Whether first-timers or long-term attendees, we have always offered something for everyone by featuring everything gaming under one roof.
Marcus Lindmark, Co-CEO, DreamHack
Planning ahead is key for all players and teams. Knowing the dates of all tournaments is very positive, and it helps us to better prepare for events. Less travel activity gives us more time to focus on the games and our upcoming opponents.
Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen, professional player in CS:GO for Astralis.
The new vision of ESL Pro Tour CS:GO is part of our ongoing mission to place players and fans at the centre of the esports experience. The dynamic double weekend format will maximize excitement and content for fans around the world, while players will benefit from a more balanced competitive schedule. The time between the game weekends will now be used to create content specific to the players who make the playoffs meaning, while teams prepare their tactics, ESL will create new trailers, interviews and tactical analysis tailor-made to every match-up at the weekend.
Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President Product, ESL
The launch of the ESL Pro Tour during last fall meant a huge leap forward in creating a sustainable ecosystem for the CS:GO scene — focusing on both amateurs and professionals in order to create a true ‘zero to hero’ opportunity," said. The new vision we're announcing today shows that we'll continue to develop this ecosystem as we strive to create the best format possible for the community and players alike.
Mike Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
The player experience is integral to DreamHack, and our new Community Clash tournaments were designed from the ground up to reward players for competing in their favorite games. Working with Prize Payments has allowed us to continue upholding our player first values right the way through awarding prize winnings, which previously was one of the most laborious and challenging of the esports experience.
Bas Bruinekool, VP, DreamHack North America
We’ve developed a structure to support teams, players and fans around the world with this format, and are looking forward to a great competition. All of us at DreamHack are proud to show the world of esports continues to grow and move forward, even as we continue adapting and finding solutions for this new normal.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
We are very excited about this partnership with DMAX. This new collaboration will allow us to bring esports into the homes of our Turkish  fans in a much more meaningful way. Gaming has always brought communities together, so we couldn’t be happier to share these not-to-be-missed tournaments with this audience in their native language.
Roger Lodewick, co-CEO, DreamHack
his 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.
Marcus Lindmark, co-CEO, DreamHack
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. 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.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
China is, and will be even more in the future, an important market for DreamHack. The Chinese Gen Z gaming and esports audience is growing and we want to continue being part of that. Thanks to this new partnership with DouYu, we will be able to offer an exceptional esports and gaming experience for all of our Chinese-speaking fans.
Roger Lodewick, co-CEO, DreamHack
Our partnership with ESL and DreamHack strengthens our hold as a premium live-streaming platform in China. ESL and DreamHack have served esports fans globally for many years, providing fans with the best gaming experience and fostering an esports community like no other. As we see a natural interest in RTS esports in China, partnering with ESL and DreamHack is the best possible scenario for our viewers.
Cheng Chao, COO, DouYu
Rocket League is a hugely popular game — combined with DreamHack’s extensive experience in production, we are confident this partnership will bring great value to the Rocket League community. Producing the RLCS is a great opportunity to further improve that value and deepen our relationship with Psyonix.
Marcus Lindmark, co-CEO, DreamHack
We had a tremendous  experience hosting huge open participation Fortnite competitions at DreamHack Winter and DreamHack Anaheim just a few months ago. While we aren’t currently hosting any mass gatherings, we’re very excited to produce what will assuredly be some amazing online events and we look forward to the future.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
This partnership with Elgiganten will not only provide our visitors with a great onsite experience, but also has the possibility to grow into something larger with DreamHack presence at Elgiganten stores throughout Sweden —  truly a great opportunity for us and fans alike.
Marcus Lindmark, Co-CEO, DreamHack
I see great opportunities with our partnership with DreamHack. I believe we can strengthen each other and make Elgiganten stores a natural place were all gaming enthusiasts can meet up all year-round. At Elgiganten we strongly believe in the store experience and this gives us the opportunity to take our store gaming concept to new heights.
Niclas Eriksson, CEO, Elgiganten
Just as DreamHack is proud to be a pioneer in the growth and development of the esports industry over the last 25 years, DTS has been inventing and delivering audio solutions for mobile devices, home theater systems, cinema and beyond in a similar time frame. All of us at DreamHack are excited to maximize this partnership to the benefit of our audiences.
Roger Lodewick, Co-CEO, DreamHack
This collaboration will provide unique online and offline experiences for our passionate community of gamers as well as first-in-class opportunities for us around esports competitions. We're thrilled to grow with Dreamhack and look forward to building an incredible partnership together!
Sam Keene, Director, Digital Marketing, Xperi
Following the success of the 2019 all women’s CS:GO tournament in Valencia, we are pleased to announce the 2020 DreamHack Showdown. DreamHack is committed to supporting diversity, so this event has become particularly special to us. These are going to be tremendous competitions featuring some of the best women CS:GO players in the world — it is truly a not-to-be-missed tournament!
Marcus Lindmark, Co-CEO, DreamHack
We are excited to expand our list of strong partners for DreamHack Masters Spring by entering into a partnership with Betway. This is a strong commitment not only to DreamHack, but also to the CS:GO community during these challenging times in our world.
Roger Lodewick, Co-CEO, DreamHack
At Betway we are thrilled to be adding DreamHack Masters Spring to our portfolio of top tier esports events. It reinforces our strong commitment to the scene and we look forward to being part of such a legendary tournament.
Adam Savinson, Head of Esports, Betway
This was not an easy decision. We have never had to postpone events like this before — but these are extraordinary times, and the safety of our staff and attendees has never been more important than now.
Marcus Lindmark, Co-CEO, DreamHack
DreamHack’s tournaments are now being moved online — it was important to allow these tournaments to still be played, which provides esports players with great opportunities while also giving viewers entertaining esports to enjoy from all around the world.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
We are extremely excited to bring on Barclays as a key partner alongside the participating teams to continue to innovate and create a competitive ecosystem in which all fans, teams, organizers, and partners can work together for mutual benefit.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
It's clear that Barclays truly understands the power and potential of esports. As the presenting partner and headline sponsor for the UKLC, they're blazing the trail for more British brands to become part of the esports ecosystem.
Steven Norris, Head of Brand Partnerships, DreamHack
We are so excited to be partnering with Dreamhack to present the UKLC, the pinnacle of UK league of legends, showcasing and nurturing the top UK esports talent. With our heritage of supporting sport and seeing the power it has to bring people together, the UKLC partnership was an obvious first step for Barclays into professional esports. We’re really looking forward to learning from the community how we can support teams, players, and fans to thrive and grow.
Ben Davey, CEO of Barclays Ventures
The continuation of our partnership will strengthen not only the content offerings for fans, but also the greater esports community that ESL, Dreamhack, and Twitch have cultivated over the years.
Benjamin Vallat, SVP of Alliances and Corporate Development, Twitch
As we continue to host some of the world’s largest esports tournaments, it feels only natural to work even closer with Twitch to provide the best gaming experience for fans, as well as safeguard the future of the esports industry.
Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President, Global Media, ESL
Our cooperation with Twitch dates back to 2009 when it was still Justin.tv — this new collective media partnership is re-confirming our long-standing collaboration and highlights the importance and relevance Twitch has to our community, as well as the value the ESL/DreamHack esports content brings to the global Twitch audience.
Roger Lodewick, Co-CEO, DreamHack
CORSAIR is a valued long-term partner of DreamHack and their continued commitment is a confirmatory sign of our joint commitment to grow our esports and gaming festivals around the world. On behalf of DreamHack and our community, I would like to thank CORSAIR for their continued support and look forward to a tremendous year ahead.
Roger Lodewick, co-CEO, DreamHack
CORSAIR has been a long-standing supporter of DreamHack live events and esports, growing together as the popularity of both has exploded. With esports seeing more viewership than ever during these uncertain times, this partnership reinforces CORSAIR’s commitment to DreamHack, its fans, and its competitors, both online and in-person.
Lauren Premo, Director, Gaming Marketing, CORSAIR
Announcing the return of DreamHack PUBG Showdown feels great, and the all-online tournament format is perfect in these unprecedented times. We at DreamHack are big fans of the ‘battle royale’ genre, and we know PUBG has a strong following here in Europe. We can’t wait to share this event with our fans
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
DreamHack has been the leading esports organizer in the Nordics for a very long time and we are very excited to partner up with Riot on a long term basis to create a more stable ecosystem for players, fans, and teams around League of Legends.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
We have been working hard with DreamHack and Telia to really create something special for the Nordics’ best League of Legends players. There is now a much clearer path from the amateur leagues through to professional level and we’re excited to see what the talent here can do on the big stage.
Mo Fadl, Head of Publishing Nordics, Riot Games
While not being able to compete on LAN is unfortunate, we’ve developed a structure to support teams, players and fans around the world. We look forward to a great competition, showing that the world of esports goes on as we're quick to adapt and find solutions for this new reality.
Michael Van Driel, Chief Product Officer, DreamHack
Extending Polsat Games’ offer to broadcast the prestigious ESL Pro Tour tournaments in CS:GO is a very important step in the development of linear television. We are aware of the value CS:GO brings to Polsat Games and to esports fans, offering them great matches of Polish athletes competing on big international stages. We are extremely proud to have kicked-off our adventure together with ESL at this years’ IEM Katowice, one of the most important CS:GO tournaments which is  watched by millions of fans around the world every year.
Ewa Czekała, Program Manager, Polsat Games