From 24th to 26th January 2020, DreamHack Leipzig celebrated its fifth anniversary. All previous years’ records were broken again. In addition to Germany’s largest LAN party, 23,300 visitors experienced a full program of eight eSports tournaments, gaming-related events, the big cosplay contest and were able to put the latest hardware products through their paces.
Whether you go to DreamHack to experience exciting eSports up close, fight your own tournaments at the LAN Party to meet your favorite streamers – or all together, this weekend you got your money’s worth at the gaming festival.
We were there to closely follow the Clash of Nations with the Rainbow Six Siege team from mYinsanity and to sniff out gaming expo air.
More eSports than ever – the first time with a Dota 2 Major
This year there were eight tournaments and seven-digit prize money: For the first time, a Dota 2 major tournament was held with the DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major here fought for a price pot of USD 1,000,000. Visitors were able to experience top international teams up close in Hall 4, while millions of people watched the streams at home. In the Grand Finals of the second major in the 2019/20 Dota Pro Circuit, Team Secret prevailed against Evil Geniuses with 3: 2 Bo5.
Photo: Leipziger Messe / Tom Schulze
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There was also a comeback DreamHack Open in CS: GO, where BIG secured first place on the podium in front of the Australians Renegades on Sunday evening. For the first time, DreamHack partner XMG also appeared as a tournament organizer – together with Ubisoft, the Clash of Nations the best teams from Germany, Austria and Switzerland compete for the title and a prize money of 50,000 euros in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, the team from mYinsanity was there, but unfortunately could not qualify for the grand finale in Team Orgless secured victory over 4F Gaming.
mYinsanity at the Clash of Nations
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The premiered at DreamHack Leipzig Farming Simulator League, mYinsanity were there too. In the final, Trelleborg triumphed over Team Grimme after a full-distance match. Other tournaments were the European Smash Circuit (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) and the final games of the ESBD Club Cup (League of Legends) and the Uniliga (League of Legends and Rocket League). The first Leipzig FIFA champion was also crowned.
Photo: Leipziger Messe GmbH / Tom Schulze (TS)
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A total of 2,080 gamers took part in the LAN party this year, another new record. There were over 20 tournaments in League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch and PUBG – there were cash and material prizes to be won. The LAN area was open to DreamExpo visitors in the past few years, but was closed here this year. This allowed LAN visitors to devote themselves to their tournaments and the LAN feeling without distraction, without visitors stepping over their mattresses. Still a shame, so you could no longer visit friends at the LAN site. However, you could meet at any time in the Expo area.
Photo: Leipziger Messe GmbH / Tom Schulze (TS)
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Indie games, case art and gaming hardware you can touch
The Indie Arena Booth was at the start for the second time this year. Very prominent at the large booth in the 16+ area were a total of 27 independent game developers with their creations on site. Anyone who knows the IAB knows that you can easily try out new games here, chat with the developers and look over the shoulder of one or the other streamer. The atmosphere was very relaxed again this year, and the stand grew a lot compared to the previous year. It’s great that the concept works so well and also resonates with DreamHack, where there are usually few game presentations apart from eSports. If you want to play different titles in peace and are there all weekend, we definitely recommend a visit on Friday or Sunday, as the Expo on Saturday is much fuller and so you can expect longer waiting times.
Photo: Ronja Antesberger
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Another highlight was the exhibition of the German Casemod Championship DCMM for the second time in a row. Here the finalist projects could be admired or their own abilities demonstrated in the new, very popular visitor modding. With The Witcher and Game of Thrones, the theme of fantasy was strongly represented this year, but futuristic and playful mods were also strongly represented. Festival goers could choose “the most spectacular creation” (THE IRON MAIDEN) and “the most beautiful beauty case” (The Witcher) in the audience selection.
Monia Reuter – The Witcher Photo: DCMM
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The hardware providers with the latest gear for the gaming experience cannot be imagined without any gaming trade fair. This year, XMG, Zotac, Corsair, LG and Samsung were prominently at the DreamExpo, as well as Caseking, who stocked the DreamStore this year, where there were trade fair discounts on hardware and gaming peripherals. On the stages there was everything to gain from screens to graphics cards to accessories and merchandise, especially Zotac attracted attention again and again with the popular Beat Saber competition.
Streamer Meetings, Cosplay and Community Meetups
In the streamer area, fans could experience their favorite streamers live again. diZee and Eyecident were there for the second time, premieres included Splatterman TV, Unlckyme and Sola – Mahluna was the only streamer to be there. Of course, the very popular Cosplay Contest on the main stage on Saturday evening was also a must, as it attracted a large number of visitors like in recent years. The winners can soon be in the Hall of Fame
Photo: Ronja Antesberger
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Of course, the very popular Cosplay Contest on the main stage on Saturday evening was not to be missed. You can see the first photos of the winners here look at LM-Fotodesign there will be more pictures in the near future.
The DreamHack is generally very popular with streamers because it offers a very relaxed and manageable framework for community meetings than, for example, Gamescom. The distances are short, even for big rounds you can always organize a cozy evening and then go out in Leipzig, the XMG party on Friday evening was also at the start again.
For us the DreamHack was again a great event, a good mix of top eSports, community and festival feeling. The next DreamHack Leipzig will take place from January 21st to 24th, 2021.
eSports.ch was also on site with a film team that accompanied the Rainbow 6 team from mYinsanity. You will soon see what they experienced there.
