And it’s a pretty big deal
The “world’s largest LAN party” is coming stateside. DreamHack, founded in 1992, was established as a festival for online gaming fans to gather with their own computers. But since then it has also become a powerhouse in the eSports world.
The organization announced earlier this week that it would be expanding to America for the first time. The festival will be in Austin, Texas on May 6-8. DreamHack CEO Marcus Lindmark also teased another reveal, by saying it is DreamHack’s “ambition to host a second event in another region of North America in 2016 as well, we are very excited to keep ramping things up.”
The festival will have the same “bring your own computer” setup as other DreamHacks and major eSports events. The games have not been announced yet, but you can believe that popular titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, and Dota 2 will have representation.
Expanding to two locations is a big deal, as it means that DreamHack has enough money to throw at something this huge. It’s been a year of extreme growth in the eSports market. In a statement, Major League Gaming reported a 253% growth in viewership on its premium MLG.TV service, as well as a 482% growth in ad revenue. One can only assume DreamHack is seeing similar growth.
