DreamHack, the immersive, gaming lifestyle experience where the gaming community comes to life, has added entertainment features to the week-long interactive event DreamHack Beyond, starting Saturday, July 24 and continuing through Saturday, July 31, 2021. In addition to previously announced themed worlds, 20+ festival halls, game demos, and hourly tournaments (including Hearthstone and Rocket League), the range of added programming, activities and gameplay includes the first DreamHack Battle of the Bands, Cosplay Competitions, Panels, Screenings, Speedrunning, Streaming Tournament and more. What’s more, DreamHack Beyond is FREE. For registration (now open), and a complete list of all festival activities and interactive video game content, visit dreamhack.com/beyond.
DreamHack Beyond was created to both complement and showcase the best of DreamHack in a fresh, new way allowing players/attendees to enjoy the festival in any way they choose — from virtual cosplay competitions, amateur and professional esports tournaments, and game demos, to the expo, panels, speedrunning, live streamed music and screenings, community tournaments and more. DreamHack Beyond will offer a hybrid experience featuring everything gaming under one “virtual” roof.
Furthermore, Beyond will stand as a truly unique, have-to-be-there experience for players/attendees as they enter the overall frame and become part of the new online multiplayer game DreamHack Beyond. A collaboration between DreamHack and award-winning Super Crowd Entertainment, this lighthearted, adventurous, and task-driven interactive hybrid between reality and fantasy will bring the community and entire event together. Using the most advanced online event frame available anywhere, this unique browser-based, multiplayer approach offers a user-friendly navigation throughout the digital experience. With proprietary Super Crowd X5 framework, the state-of-the-art game technology offers a range of functionality, including a booth editor for exhibitors, an ingame chat system, and full streaming and online product integration.
MUSIC*
DreamHack Battle of the Bands The inaugural DreamHack Battle of the Bands has arrived! Rock and metal bands had the opportunity to enter three songs here by this past Friday, June 25, which will be judged — first by the public, then by an expert panel of well-known and respected rock and metal musicians. The winning band will earn the $1000 grand prize and an opening slot at one of DreamHack’s music concerts at a future, in-person (physical) DreamHack event. Past DreamHack concerts have featured renowned rock and metal bands such as Trivium, Halestorm, Cane Hill, Amaranthe and more.
Eight bands will go head-to-head in a rock-n-roll battle, all leading into the live finals on Friday, July 30, at 6pm PT/9pm ET.
- June 10 — Sign Ups Opened
- June 25 — Sign Ups Closed
- July 2 — Finalists Chosen and Notified
- July 4-7 — Voting Phase●
- July 30, 2021, 6:00pm PT/9pm ET — Finals (Live Show)●
*More music experiences to be announced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omq2eyAvPEo
COSPLAY
DreamHack Beyond Cosplay DreamHack Beyond will feature three different kinds of Cosplay Competitions focused on live transformation, design skills, and pure cosplay crafting.
1) Live Transformation Challenge
Eight streamers will be selected to live stream for three hours Streamers will be given a genre/game/character category and have that time to body paint, raid their closets, and break out the cardboard! Throughout the process, streamers will be featured on the DreamHack Twitch channel as they compete for the $800 prize pool up for grabs.
Deadlines are as follows:
- July 2: Sign-ups close
- July 9: Finalists selected
- July 31: Live Transformation Challenge, 2pm ET
2) Rocket League Design Challenge
Submit your designs for a Rocket League car-inspired fashion/cosplay look and have a shot at making it into the finals of the Rocket League Fashion show Finalists will be paired with Rocket League content creators to create original cosplay designs based off of the creator’s car of choice. This design challenge has $1000 on the line for the designer and content creator team
Deadlines are as follows:
- July 2: Sign-ups Close
- July 9: Finalists Selected
- July 20: Rocket League Design Challenge Preliminary
- July 21: Rocket League Design Challenge Finals
3) DreamHack Beyond Iconic Cosplay
Cosplay goes digital at DreamHack Beyond — show what you can create and join fellow crafters for this very special cosplay competition Participants from all over the world may submit two videos: one showcasing your creation; and one presenting your cosplay and how it was built. With their passion from all over the world, and we welcome you to our online contest.
Deadlines are as follows;
- July 17: Sign-ups close
- July 22: Finalists chosen
- July 29: Live Finals on Twitch
PANELS
Panels will run daily from 12-3pm ET on twitch.tv/dreamhack and twitch.tv/dreamhackbeyond.
Full schedule of panels is available at dreamhack.com/beyond/panels.
Topics to be covered include: Careers In Esports (Organized and Produced by Full Sail University)
- Richard Huggan: Managing Director, Hitmarke
- Patrick Klein: Chief Strategy Officer, eFuse
- Erin Eberheardt: Lead Project Manager, Blizzard
- Matt “Burns” Potthoff: General Manager and VP of Esports, eUnited
Streaming and Content Creation (Organized and Produced by Full Sail University)
- BigCheeseKIT
- ProfessorBroman
- Matt Heafy: Trivium / Kiichi Chaos
- TheMavShow: Xbox Host/Producer, Twitch Partner, Podcaster
Collegiate Esports — The Ins and Outs of Programs and Clubs (Organized and Produced by Full Sail University)
- Dana Heustedt: Director of Esports, Florida Tech
- Doc Haskell: Clinical Assoc. Professor, Head Coach of Esports, Boise State
- Bubba Gaedhart: Executive Director, Varsity Esports Foundation
- Joey Gawrysiak: Director and Associate Professor of Esports, Shenandoah University
The Financial Benefits of Inclusion (Organized and Produced by QWE)
- Guests TBA
Hellcard: Designing with Co-op Roguelike Deck-Builder with Simultaneous Turns (Organized and Produced by Digital Dragons)
- Thing Trunk, Konstanty Kalicki
This Is Cobra Kai! Bringing the Hit Franchise from TV to Games (Organized and Produced by Brazil’s Independent Games Festival)
- Arthur Protasio Fableware, Narrative Design
- Paulo Luis Santos, Founder, Executive Director & Creative Designer, Flux Games
- Paul Campagna, VP Studios\Director of Development, GameMill Entertainment
SCREENINGS
Film screenings will available during DreamHack Beyond, including:
- Friday, July 30 | 7pm ET Titmouse 5-Second Short Showcase is excited to present the “Best of 5 Second Day” on Twitch.
Additional Screening partners will be featured in the Expo, including:
- Crunchyroll World’s Largest Collection of Anime Visit their expo booth for a free trial sign-up code Collect a limited edition in game Crunchroll shirt
- Hi-YAH! Hi-YAH! is your new favorite martial arts and Asian action movie channel Visit them in the Expo for a free trial sign-up code
- Shudder Stream the largest selection of uncut, ad-free horrors, thrillers, and suspense Visit their expo booth for a free trial sign-up code
SPEEDRUNNING
In collaboration with Warp World, DreamHack Beyond will bring fans it’s first-ever Speedrun series. Join the effort to break records while having fun achieving personal bests.
DreamHack 101 will introduce how to speedrun — with our partners Global Speedrunning Association (GSA), St. Jude, Warp World — and walk you through how to start your speedrunning career with some of the best in the business.
CHARITY PARTNERS
Charity partners for DreamHack Beyond allow us the chance to pay it forward. For this event, charity partners include:
- LANFEST Building Healthy Communities Through Gaming
- Gamers Outreach On a mission to provide access to play to hospitalized children everywhere.
- NonToxic Gamers A nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting toxicity in gaming by bringing awareness to the physical, emotional and financial effects of toxicity. NoToxic Gamers believes people of all ages and skill levels should have a fun and encouraging environment for any level of gameplay.
- Rise Above the Disorder A nonprofit covering the cost of mental health care for people around the world.
- Stack Up Supporting U.S. and Allied mental health through gaming.
- Cure Rare Disease Cure Rare Disease™ is developing custom therapeutics that are as unique to the individuals they are meant to treat. Its mission is to offer effective, life-saving treatments developed through collaborations with world-renowned researchers and clinicians, and in partnership with our generous donors. Customized therapeutics are designed specifically for the men and women who continue to fight for their right to live long, full, healthy lives despite having been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder for which they’ve been told there is no treatment or cure.
- Help Hope Live Helps people pay for medical care (transplants, injuries, cancer, etc.).
- Able Gamers Creates opportunities that enable play in order to combat social isolation, foster inclusive communities, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
- Queer Women of Esports Advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community in competitive gaming.
- University of Michigan (MottChildren) StreamforMott benefits the Therapeutic Gaming and Digital Technology Program at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. This unique program allows young patients to enjoy virtual and augmented reality, in-room gaming, visits from volunteer gamers and developers, Lego and robotics kits, and other technologies.
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital To advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.
STREAMING TOURNAMENT
Visit the streamers who will be joining DreamHack Beyond at the Stream Studio. List here.
Esports and content partners for DreamHack Stream Beyond will be in a premiere area to present their favorite streamers playing along with daily tournaments. Watch and see who wins!
Boom.tv
Tournament organizer for dreamhack beyond streamer invitational tournaments Call of Duty and Apex Legends Tournament partner
Teams and streaming partners confirmed so far:
Cloud9: https://www.cloud9.gg/ Misfits: https://misfitsgaming.gg/ Envy: https://envy.gg/ Builtbygamers:https://builtbygamers.gg/ Tyrus: https://tyrus.tv/ Method: https://www.method.gg/ GamerAdvatage:https://gameradvantage.com/ Aporia Customs: https://aporiacustoms.com/
