Inaugural DreamHack San Diego Offered Ultimate Gaming Experience and Awarded $549,000 in Total Prizing to Esports Competitors
| PRESS RELEASE SUMMARY – In partnership with Autism Society San Diego, DreamHack raised [MONEY] for the non-profit through the “Dream Big” initiative. – DreamHack gave back to the local San Diego community during its first-ever visit to the city, providing discounts for military members and donating $1 million worth of tickets for students. – Karmine Corp won the Rocket League Championship Series Winter Major, taking home their share of the $310,000 prize pool. – Top North American mobile esports players across Brawl Stars and Clash of Clans claimed $100,000 in prize money during the Snapdragon Pro Series Powered by Samsung Galaxy Mobile Challenge Finals. – DreamHack Open Featuring Fortnite distributed a prize pool of $250,000. – DreamHack Fighters awarded $100,000 in prizing as around 1,000 global competitors faced off across nearly a dozen titles, including Super Smash Bros. Melee, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and more. – Players competed in the ‘Magic: The Gathering’ U.S. Regional Championship featuring a prize pool of $130,000. – Cosplay Championship awarded $3,000 in prizing to local and national cosplayers. – Special guests throughout the festival weekend included gaming influencers FaZe Sway, Anjali Bhimani and Jake Lucky, actors Kevin Michael Richardson and Jessica DiCicco, and many more. – Set It Off, City of Sound, and Scene Queen rocked the main stage on Saturday. PHOTOS – DreamHack San Diego photos are available HERE and on the DreamHack Flickr. |
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — DreamHack San Diego, a three-day gaming lifestyle festival, has concluded with more than 41,000 total attendees, setting the record for the largest-ever U.S. DreamHack festival. On April 7-9 at the San Diego Convention Center, the first-ever DreamHack San Diego featured a variety of experiences for the gaming community, including esports tournaments across the most popular titles, an assortment of LAN competitions totaling nearly $1 million in prizing, musical performances, retro arcade, and much more.
“We are immensely proud of the success of DreamHack San Diego, breaking the record as the most attended U.S. festival in DreamHack history,” said Shahin Zarrabi, VP of Strategy & Growth for DreamHack. “Across three days, the festival showcased the best of gaming, esports, music, and pop culture under one roof – bringing together the global gaming community. Thank you to all our festival goers for their enthusiastic participation across both professional and amateur competitions, and congratulations to our winners.”
Special guests throughout the weekend included voice actors and actresses from the God of War, Overwatch, and Assassin’s Creed franchises, popular gaming influencers FaZe Sway and Jake Lucky, and many more.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Dream Big by DreamHack and Autism Society San Diego
In celebration of Autism Acceptance month, DreamHack San Diego partnered with Autism Society San Diego to introduce its “Dream Big” initiative to raise funding and awareness for autism. As part of Dream Big, DreamHack donated $43,000 to the organization and raised additional proceeds for the non-profit to ticket sales. Dozens of celebrities attended DreamHack San Diego in support of Dream Big, including voices from the God of War, Overwatch, and Assassin’s Creed franchises, and famous cosplayers and content creators.
DreamHack gives back to local San Diego community
DreamHack launched multiple initiatives to support San Diego during its first visit to the city including contributing $1 million worth of tickets to students at schools through the area and providing discounts for U.S. military members.
Set It Off, City of Sound rocked centerstage on Saturday night
Los Angeles-based rock band Set It Off headlined the Main Stage on Saturday. The band, which has 528 million plays on its top 10 Spotify tracks, was joined by opening acts City of Sound and Scene Queen.
COMPETITION RESULTS
Rocket League Championship Series Winter Major
$310,000 Prize Pool
WINNER: Karmine Corp
The top 16 internationally ranked Rocket League squads battled it out in San Diego for the most exciting major of the season, with online viewership peaking at over 270,000. Karmine Corp edged out FaZe Clan to secure the victory and took home the lion’s share of the $310,000 prize pool.
Snapdragon Pro Series Powered by Samsung Galaxy Mobile Challenge Finals: North America
$100,000 Prize Pool ($50,000 per title)
BRAWL STARS WINNER: STMN Esports
CLASH OF CLANS WINNER: Lotus Gaming
The Snapdragon Pro Series powered by Samsung Galaxy featured top North American mobile esports competitors as they battled for $100,000 in total prizing. Lotus Gaming took home the Snapdragon Pro Series Clash Of Clans championship title, while STMN Esports lifted the Brawl Stars trophy. Tribe Gaming and STMN Esports additionally secured spots at the highly anticipated $200,000 Mobile Masters competition at DreamHack Japan (May 13-14).
$250,000 Prize Pool
Kwanti & Threats claimed the top spot and their share of the $250,000 prize pool at the DreamHack Open Ft. Fortnite, which kicked off this weekend. The three-part Zero Build competition continues at DreamHack Dallas (June 2-4) and DreamHack Summer in Sweden (June 16-19), with the top 10 duos from each festival qualifying for the $2 million Gamers8 Featuring Fortnite event from July 6-9 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
$100,000 Prize Pool
WINNERS: All details are available HERE.
DreamHack San Diego featured a number of professional and amateur fighting game tournaments throughout the weekend, including Brawlhalla, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and many more. More than 11,000 viewers tuned into the official DreamHack Fighters broadcast on the final day of competition, which featured some of the event’s top competitors.
BYOC LAN Tournaments & Freeplay
$40,000 Prize Pool
BYOC LAN is the core of any DreamHack festival. DreamHack San Diego featured 10 BYOC tournaments across eight titles, including Overwatch 2, VALORANT, Rocket League, and more.
$130,000 Prize Pool
WINNER: Joshua Willis
DreamHack San Diego hosted Round 2 of the United States Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship. The country’s best Magic: The Gathering players competed for their chance to qualify for The Gathering Pro Tour and the Magic World Championship.
$3,000 Prize Pool
DreamHack San Diego offered a hub for local and national cosplayers. Competitors toured the festival floor, participated in the Cosplay Championships, and walked the audience through their creative process.
Novice
1st — Ashleythegraham
2nd — X_PROT_492
3rd — Kat.Cos.11
Artisan
1st — VivSai
2nd —- Maike Huster
3rd — Chaosplay Karma
Expert
1st — Sinister Propz
2nd — Divine Creations
3rd — Nylo Ren
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About DreamHack
DreamHack creates a world where the gaming community comes to life. The festivals, featuring everything gaming under one roof, create an arena where you can come to connect, explore, win, play a part, and be yourself through a gaming lifestyle experience. Attendees meet their favorite creators, experience professional esports tournaments, amateur and varsity gaming tournaments, world-famous bring-your-own-computer (BYOC) LAN party, cosplay championships, panels, art, activities, expo, screenings, live music, and more. DreamHack is part of ESL FACEIT Group, the leading competitive games and esports company.