Australia’s gaming community is eagerly anticipating the return of DreamHack AU, the country’s largest esports event.
Excitement is at an all-time high following the announcement of a deal to keep the event in Melbourne for many years to come.
The new partnership with Visit Victoria ensures Melbourne will play host to DreamHack for at least the next five years, solidifying its status as the ultimate gaming destination in Australia.
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Quest Daily sat down with Ben Green, head of product at ESL Australia and DreamHack AU, to talk all about the upcoming event.
What is DreamHack about, and what can gaming fans expect from the event?
“DreamHack Melbourne is about creating a space where traditionally digital communities; fans across all the different aspects of gaming, get together to spend the weekend hanging out, having fun, and creating new memories.”
“In terms of what fans can expect from the festival, this year we’ve really hit our stride with the mix of content on offer. We’ve gone hard on the sorts of content that was super popular last year – Trash Taste, for instance, is coming back in a big way, with a whole new show that they’ve never performed before in Australia. Artist Alley will be back and twice the size, we’ve got two massive cosplay competitions, and a complete transformation of Centrepiece (the building the expo used to be in last year) into 3 unique, connected spaces filled with new content like speedrunning and tabletop.”
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Is DreamHack just about gaming, or is it something bigger? It seems like the community is a huge focus, with colourful costumes and special interest meet-ups.
“That’s a great question. We don’t think of ‘gaming fans’ as a singular body of people. For us, we know people interact in their own communities, and it’s these communities that we’re creating a space for at DreamHack. Often these communities don’t even identify themselves as a ‘community for x’ – they’re just like-minded people that enjoy spending time the same way, like the discord that you and your mates hop on every Friday night. Whether it’s that 10-person discord, or the 1 million subscribers of a YouTuber who’s coming to our festival, DreamHack is for everyone.”
What work goes into an event like this? You must have a huge behind-the-scenes team.
“Absolutely – on top of our core Aussie team, we have international colleagues in 6 different timezones, working around the world in cities from Stockholm to Singapore on various aspects of the festival. It being a part of the team so much more memorable, when after working with colleagues I’ve only seen on Zoom for the last year, I finally get the chance to meet them in-person on the week of our festival.”
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What was the reaction to last year’s event, are you expecting this year to be bigger and better?
“Last year’s festival was a resounding success – we wouldn’t be talking about a new DreamHack in Melbourne if it wasn’t. Of course, that doesn’t mean it was perfect – we’ve identified a number of elements that we want to improve, and add on to the festival to make it bigger, including some new headline content for this year.”
Is DreamHack a family-friendly event and how can people get involved?
“Absolutely. It’s the perfect excuse for a day out with the kids, and every year we see families who attend for the first time and love it. Families often will come on Sunday with a day pass, and we know our younger audience love getting hands-on with free-play stations and playing with the latest tech in the expo. Last year, we even had a few families pop up on national television when The Today Show went around the park doing some vox-pop interviews!”
What will an event like Dreamhack do for Victoria, and Australia as a whole?
“Our government partners in Visit Victoria share the same vision of DreamHack that we do, as a flagship event on the calendar to bring masses of gaming fans to the state for the weekend. It’s this visitation that helps drive local tourism and local spending, which benefits the Victorian economy.”
“Thinking broadly, Australia is a very unique place to host a DreamHack festival compared to the rest of the world. A DreamHack in Sweden is a short train ride or flight away for most of Europe. DreamHack Dallas has a captive audience in the state of Texas alone that is larger than the population of Australia. We’re unique here with the massive distance that separates our (relatively) small population – but it’s this distance that makes getting together all the more special when we do.”
Tickets are on sale now, head to the DreamHack AU website for more info.
