ATLANTA — Atlanta is not only home to a billion-dollar film and television industry. But it’s also a world-class destination for the gaming industry.
Dreamhack, featuring everything gaming under one roof, hosted more than 30,000 visitors at the Georgia World Congress Center.
DreamHack made its Atlanta debut in 2017 bringing nearly 25,000 visitors from a total of 48 states and 25 countries. 2018 is expected to bring even more visitors to experience this festival.
“I think it’s just one of the best places to bring friends and gamers alike together. Just yesterday, I met up with my online friends for the very first time. We met five years ago,” Grant Liller tells the A-Scene.
During the 24 hour-a-day festival weekend, DreamHack Atlanta featured everything related to the gaming genre under one roof and was jam-packed with nearly $2 million in pro esports tournaments, collegiate and high school esports matches, world famous LAN party, music concerts, cosplay championship, panels, art gallery, arcade, virtual reality, expo and more; sponsored by Monster, LG & H4x.
“When you walk into Dreamhack you see everything, and you see everyone,” M. Cole Jones, managing partner RIISE Ventures said.
“We are the physical manifestation of gaming and esports. It’s the actual way for you to experience gaming from a first-hand standpoint. So you come in, there is an indie zone and there’s all types really hot new titles coming out and that people are working on, and you can play, experiment, and build, and talk to developers and give feedback. You have the stages set up and each stage is geared to different games,” Trevor Marks, logistics coordinator and marketing assistant said.
DreamHack partnered with The American Video Game League (AVGL), High School Esports League (HSEL) and Twitch’s Twitch Student program to host high school and college esports matches on the Main Stage. The series included a League of Legends tournament, based on a nationwide, online qualifier. In addition will be grudge matches for Fortnite, League of Legends, and Clash Royale mobile, all featuring regional school rivalries. The events were livestreamed exclusively on Twitch (twitch.tv/dreamhack).