DreamHack Leipzig builds a huge fan base

Robert Schenker, Managing Director of co-organiser Schenker Technologies/XMG, is also highly satisfied: “We worked together with Leipziger Messe to bring this event to Leipzig, and we are all very pleased that DreamHack grew this year. More tournaments, more exhibitors and more LAN participants – that was the setup for this year’s surge in visitors. At our XMG stand, we also witnessed an upsurge in visitor numbers, as well as great interest in our products and in the supporting programme. We look towards the future with optimism and are already looking forward to DreamHack Leipzig 2019.”

The concept for DreamHack Leipzig 2018, which comprised high-class e-sports tournaments, enthusiastic exhibitors and Germany’s biggest LAN party, was a huge hit, as a glance at the visitor survey reveals. 94 per cent want to visit the festival again next year and are intending to recommend it to friends and acquaintances. One in four visitors travelled more than 300 km to be part of DreamHack Leipzig. In total, there were gamers from 21 different countries in attendance, with nearly half of them exclusively visiting DreamHack Leipzig.

More exhibitors and bigger stands

This year’s DreamExpo grew from 31 to 43 exhibitors, partners and sponsors. Exhibitors from the previous years increased the size of their stands in order to present an even more exciting offering to the thousands of interested gamers. “As the gaming brand of ASUS, ‘Republic of Gamers’ is very well-known to the visitors of DreamHack Leipzig. We have been represented at the festival from the very beginning, and considerably increased the size of our stand this year. We are completely satisfied with this year’s DreamHack Leipzig, and count ourselves among the biggest fans of this event. The audience are 100 per cent our target group, which is why it’s already clear that we will be back again next year”, says Daniel Möllendorf, PR Manager Republic of Gamers at ASUS.

E-sports showdown with international stars and qualifying competitors from the gaming community

The e-sports area at DreamHack Leipzig made use of all platforms – from PC and consoles through to smartphones. Around 230,000 US dollars in prize money was awarded across six different e-sports tournaments. As expected, visitors were particularly drawn to the StarCraft II World Championship Series and the DreamHack Open with Rocket League, during which a combined prize pool of 150,000 US dollars was awarded to the winners. The broadcasts thrilled an audience of millions. On Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of Pokémon players flocked into Hall 5, there to compete against one another in the Pokémon Regional Championships. The “Win the Winter” Hearthstone tournament, the PlayStation Masters, and the Vainglory 5V5 show tournament all enjoyed a successful première.

Record-breaking LAN party

Germany’s biggest LAN party was even bigger this year than the last edition. From Friday to Sunday, more than 1,700 participants filled the site in order to play with and against one another. LAN sponsor ASUS donated non-cash prizes worth 20,000 euros, which were awarded during numerous LAN tournaments. Records were also broken in terms of data used. During the three days, around 95 terrabytes whizzed through the cables, with one single heavy user consuming 650 gigabytes of data.

Action-packed programme with plenty of highlights

The Star of DreamHack Leipzig was once again variety – there was something to discover at every corner. At the exhibitor stands, e-sports professionals competed against visitors; popular streamers were happy to provide autographs; and new products were made available to test out. On the Event Stage, prizes were handed out, show matches held and the LAN finals broadcast. During the big cosplay contest on Saturday evening, the stage was transformed into a catwalk for outstanding costume artists, while the DreamStore powered by MediaMarkt offered gamers hardware, software and merchandise at heavily discounted prices. “DreamHack Leipzig is incredibly multifaceted, and that’s what makes the festival so exciting for visitors. No matter whether you’re a hardcore gamer, occasional player or a pure hardware fan – there’s something here for everyone. The community feels at home with us, because they are the focus of everything we do here”, explains Stephanie Scholz, Project Director of DreamHack Leipzig.

DreamHack Leipzig as a business platform

On the first day of DreamHack Leipzig, the E-Sports Business Forum of the ESB Marketing Network was held for the second time. 120 commercial participants came to hear talks by e-sports professionals, marketing experts and team managers on business areas and sponsoring opportunities within e-sports. The speakers included a representative of SPORT1, who this year served as DreamHack Leipzig’s first official media partner and extensively reported on the event via its digital channels. “Our collaboration with DreamHack in Leipzig is another significant milestone in our commitment to the e-sports scene. In the long term, we want to establish ourselves as the leading media company in this sector, and have found a strong partner in Leipziger Messe”, says Marc Förster, Product Owner eSports at SPORT1.

The next DreamHack Leipzig will take place from 15 to 17 February 2019.

About DreamHack Leipzig
DreamHack Leipzig is the official German platform of the Swedish DreamHack, the world’s largest e-sports festival. Its organiser is Leipziger Messe GmbH, together with Schenker Technologies/XMG as co-organiser and DreamHack AB as its founder. The festival’s main features are numerous professional e-sports tournaments, the DreamExpo exhibition with its DreamStore, and a LAN area with 1,732 seats. DreamHack Leipzig’s festival feel is rounded off with a comprehensive gaming-themed events programme on all three days. Additional information can be found at www.dreamhack-leipzig.de

Partners of DreamHack Leipzig 2018
XMG is the cult gaming brand of Schenker Technologies GmbH, one of the leading providers of individually configurable laptops and desktop PCs. Since the brand’s launch over 15 years ago, numerous XMG gaming laptops and PCs have won awards from the German and international media. XMG sponsors and supports players, teams and events throughout Europe.
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AT THE HEART OF THE ACTION with SPORT1: The leading 360° sports platform in the German-speaking world stands for high-quality live sport, a proven track record of sporting expertise, and in-depth and entertaining reporting. SPORT1 is also active in the domain of e-sports: with all-round reporting on TV; on the e-sports channel on SPORT1.de; on the SPORT1 e-sports app; on the themed channels on the SPORT1 news and video apps; and with the e-sports news and highlights via social media.
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Feedback on DreamHack Leipzig 2018

Size of stand increased considerably
As the gaming brand of ASUS, “Republic of Gamers” is very well-known to the visitors of DreamHack Leipzig. We have been represented at the festival from the very beginning, and considerably increased the size of our stand this year. We have been getting great feedback as a result. Our League of Legends tournament for community fans has proved especially popular. But our products are also getting intensively tested here at our stand. We are completely satisfied with this year’s DreamHack Leipzig, and count ourselves among the biggest fans of this event. The audience are 100 per cent our target group, which is why it’s already clear that we will be back again next year.

Daniel Möllendorf, PR Manager Republic of Gamers at ASUS

Size increase was the right decision
“The third DreamHack, the third DreamStore powered by MediaMarkt. And the third sensational success! The decision to considerably expand the size of the DreamStore this year was absolutely the right one – even if the crowds were at times so large that it was impossible to get through. The special promotional offers were hugely popular. Graphics cards, gaming mice and monitors were especially sought-after. The MediaMarkt Virtual Reality Truck was also extremely well-attended. The opportunity to thoroughly test out the latest VR gadgets was massively popular with the visitors. The only thing that’s left to say is: we are already looking forward to DreamHack 2019.”

Eva Simmelbauer, Press Spokesperson, MediaMarkt Germany

Important annual kick-off event for industry professionals
With a strong focus on the key issues in the domain of e-sports, and thanks interesting speakers from international top teams, the second edition of the E-Sports Business Forum in Leipzig was once again a complete success. Considering the 30 per cent increase in visitor numbers to 140 industry experts, this event has now firmly established itself as an important annual kick-off event for the e-sports business scene. The forum will definitely take place again next year.

Daniel Luther, Project Manager ESB Marketing Network

A completely successful concept
We are represented at DreamHack with our own stand for the first time, and are already enjoying the great atmosphere. It is also a good start for HP. With our Omen brand, we had a Free2Play Area and a Virtual Reality Area here in Leipzig. The visitors were given hands-on access to our products and were able to immediately ask questions about them. Some guests also wanted to make purchases directly at our stand. We were also able to bridge the gap to the online world and let visitors to our stand play against 10 famous YouTubers and Twitch streamers. We achieved enormous reach by broadcasting live from our Twitch channel. Our concept was therefore completely successful. We love the atmosphere here in Leipzig, and the event is just the right size. We are very satisfied, and have already saved the date of DreamHack Leipzig 219 in our calendar.

Rosa Maria Alcauce, Marketing Lead at HP

Another milestone in the world of e-sports
Our collaboration with DreamHack in Leipzig is another significant milestone in our commitment to the e-sports scene. In the long term, we want to establish ourselves as the leading media company in this sector, and have found a strong partner in Leipziger Messe. At Sport1, we place great emphasis on this topic and have therefore established our own e-sports department. This year we will continue to develop our commitment to e-sports and, together with partners such as DreamHack Leipzig, will be able to draw greater public attention to e-sports.

Marc Förster, Product Owner eSports at Sport1.

Fun with visitors
We have been part of this event from the beginning, and exhibit our gaming hardware – laptops, PCs and components – here at DreamHack. We have lots of fun with the visitors and are pleased that our Overwatch 6vs6 tournament is so well-received. We are very pleased with the positive feedback at our stand and will be back again next year.

Sascha Faber, Marketing Manager MSI

Merchandising proves extremely popular
We are in Leipzig for the first time and are very pleased to be so immediately well-received by the audience as the merchandising partner of DreamHack. There’s a wonderful atmosphere and we are receiving very positive feedback at our stand. There is particularly great demand for items from the FNATIC and BIG teams, as there is for products from Twitch. The retro shirts from the first DreamHack are also very popular. We are also experiencing a clear event effect on our online shop, in the form of more visitors. We feel very positive about continuing our collaboration with DreamHack in Leipzig.

Dirk Niemeyer, Marketing Manager ESL

Close to the target group
Here in Leipzig, we are very close to our target group. As a manufacturer of cooling components for PCs and of monitor arms, we let visitors test our products to their heart’s content at our stand. This goes down well. People search out our stand and already know our products. DreamHack is a very good event. We will definitely be in attendance again next year.

Britta Bubolz, Marketing Director Arctic

Great audience feedback
Our participation in DreamHack in Leipzig was an experiment to see how good a fit e-sports and the PlayStation are. We are looking for the right offline environment for our e-sports activities and are therefore testing out different events. As far as we are concerned, it worked well in Leipzig. We had great audience feedback and are positively surprised. We are open to taking part again next year.

Christian Denk, Senior Brand Activation Manager at PlayStation DACH

DreamHack is the complete package
DreamHack is a real highlight. Here in Leipzig we meet our customers face to face. We are extremely pleased that e-sports continue to grow and that DreamHack offers the complete package for this. With the tournaments, the exhibition area and the LAN party, it provides the perfect place for the community to encounter professional gamers. The event is a true showcase, which is why we are happy to once more be a part of it.

Bastian Radloff, Regional Communications Manager Monster DACH

Press release: Closing report (DOCX, 157.88 kB)

Internet:
http://www.dreamhack-leipzig.de/en
https://www.youtube.com/c/DreamHackGermany

http://www.leipziger-messe.com