DreamHack ‘s triumphant return to Jönköping attracts guests from over 58 countries, including top musicians, creators, and competitors
Jönköping — June 16 2024 DreamHack Summer, the three-day gaming lifestyle festival, has come to a close with 32,000 gamers, creators and fans from 58 countries, coming together at DreamHack’s home city of Jönköping for live music acts, cosplay shows, iconic LAN parties, and world-class esports competitions. The festival follows a year of record-setting DreamHack festivals, including DreamHack Melbourne and Dallas.
“DreamHack’s roots in Sweden have never been stronger, and DreamHack Summer’s deeply-engaged audience showcases exactly that,” said Shahin Zarrabi, VP of Festivals, ESL FACEIT Group. “This has been a momentous year for us, and we’re excited to carry this momentum as we continue to raise the bar in Atlanta and Stockholm later this year.”
DreamHack Summer captured all facets of gaming fandom throughout the weekend. In addition to festival mainstays like a sprawling expo floor, creator meet and greets, and cosplay competitions, DreamHack Summer welcomed an all-star cast of celebrity guests and performers. Fans enjoyed live music from the likes of Little Sis Nora, Fröken Snusk, and more, as well as interactive comedy sets from creators Filip Dikmen and Kaeli.
The festival also featured five esports tournaments including all-star ESL Challenger and Svenska Elitserien, Sweden’s largest esports league, as well as three qualifiers for Esports World Cup.
The action continues later this year with the return of DreamHack Atlanta on October 4-6 and back in Europe on November 22-24 with DreamHack Stockholm at Stockholmsmässan. Three-day badges for DreamHack Stockholm are on sale starting from 649 SEK, and for Atlanta, at $99, with more information available at dreamhack.com.
Image: Emma Andersson
Festival Highlights
DreamHack Summer Offers Show-Stopping Main Stage Programming
A hub for the festival’s diverse entertainment programming, DreamHack Summer’s Main Stage offered guests a steady stream of live music, comedy shows, creator showcases, and more. Highlights include:
- Pulsating beats of Little Sis Nora, Fröken Snusk, and Firelite,
- Unique acts from creator comedians Filip Dikmen and Kaeli Abdi.
DreamHack Cosplay Brings Fandoms to Life with 25,000 SEK Competition
At the festival mainstage, DreamHack’s cosplay Championship showcased the festival’s most creative performers bringing their favorite fandoms and geeky culture to life. The Championship crowned DreamHack Summer’ winner of the expert tier, Marugitto, and Remedy and NotTitanicCal in the artisan and novice categories respectively, who claimed a share of the 25,000 SEK prize pool. The competition was judged by esteemed cosplay icons Faroni, Knightofwands, and Ailyta. A spot in the European “Tournament of Champions” went to Tokah, who will be representing Sweden at YuniCon in Vienna, Austria later this year.
Image: Luc Bouchon
Esports Competition Results
Complexity Make LAN Rebound, Claiming $100K ESL Challenger Win
After a week of action-packed Counter-Strike gameplay, North American stars representatives Complexity claimed the ESL Challenger title and the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize pool in front of a passionate live and online audience. Rebounding from their last ESL showing at Intel® Extreme Masters Dallas, the squad triumphed over the favorites’ Team Falcons in the event’s finals, bolstering a victory for a storied organization in a 2-0 series.With Complexity holding a slot at EPL as a Partner team, Team Falcons have earned the ESL Pro League season 20 coveted spot.
In Sunday’s semi-finals, Falcons was the first to score 2-0 victory over ENCE, eliminating Finnish esports heroes, and securing their undisputed spot in the Grand Final. Complexity joined them later on Sunday afternoon, sending their rival, Serbia’s Aurora, home with a 2-1 win.
Leading up to the Grand Finals, ESL Challenger brought together aspiring Counter-Strike stars and seasoned pros over the weekend with eight teams batting it out on stage at DreamHack Summer for a share of the prize pool and qualification to ESL Pro League Season 20, where they can rise through the ranks and claim glory within the world’s premier Counter-Strike esports circuit.
“We’ve been through a lot. A lot of really close matches, a lot of these crazy wins that we’ve had like throughout the seasons, to be able to end it with something to show for makes me really happy,” said Jonathan “Elige” Jablonowski
Johnny Speed Earn Svenska Elitserien Counter-Strike 2 Title Following Finals at DreamHack Summer
After navigating Swiss play, Sweden’s top Counter-Strike squads met on stage at DreamHack Summer for the Svenska Elitserien finals, where Johnny Speed claimed the ultimate victory. The team met Luminx in the grand finals, where they pulled ahead in a dominant 2-0 series to secure the win and a $11,615 cash prize for the team. William ‘draken’ Sundin took the title of the finals’ MVP, boasting a 1.66 rating.
“It feels great winning Elitserien. I think many people will have their eyes on us now, especially after this win at DreamHack Summer,” said Jonas “Lekro” Olofsson.
Players Get On The Road to Esports World Cup with DreamHack Qualifier Wins
DreamHack Summer’s slate of Esports World Cup qualifiers provided aspiring competitors with an opportunity to face off on one of the world’s largest stages at Esports World Cup this summer. Top players in TEKKEN 8, EA SPORTS FC™, and Street Fighter 6 will now head to Riyadh next month to claim their share of the $60 million total prize pool. Winners of the DreamHack Summer competitions are below:
EA SPORTS FC™
- Matias Bonanno (Manchester City)
- Abu Makkah (Team Falcons)
- Levi de Weerd (Team Gullit)
- GoalPoacher (1J Esports)
- Anders Vejrgang (RB Leipzig)
- Young (Tuzzy E-Sports)
TEKKEN 8
- Raef “Raef” Alturkistani
- Kane “KaneAndTrench” Heartfield
- Georges “Jodd” Nguende
- Bae “Knee” Jae-Min
- Lee “EDGE” Ju-hyung
- Kim “Kkokkoma” Mu-jong
- Takaba “Keisuke” Keisuke
- Oh “Meo-IL” Dae-il
Street Fighter 6
- Big Bird (WINNER)
- Masaki “Kawano” Kawano
- Hiromiki “Itabashi Zangief” Kumada
- Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun
- Chiu “Rainpro” Chin-yat
- Masato “Bonchan” Takahashi
- Hikaru “Hikaru” Nakatani
- Victor “Punk” Woodley
For more images and assets from DreamHack Summer, click HERE and from ESL Challenger DreamHack Summer, click HERE. For more information on ESL FACEIT Group, visit eslfaceitgroup.com and follow EFG on LinkedIn.
