DreamHack Birmingham was apparently an immediate success, as the event will return to the English Midlands next year.
After making its UK debut, DreamHack has confirmed the LAN event will return to the NEC from April 2 to April 4 2027.
This year’s event was claimed to have drawn in over 54,000 visitors from 65 different countries, as fans gathered to play games and watch esports tournaments with almost $1.7m (£1.3m) in prize money given out in total.
DreamHack returning next year is a major boost for the British gaming community, as DreamHack fills the hole left by Insomnia Gaming Festival.
DreamHack Birmingham Delivered Exciting Esports Action
One of the headline events of the weekend was the ESL One Birmingham Dota 2 tournament, as 16 of the world’s best teams competed at the major event with a $1m (£749k) prize pool.
Tundra was crowned ESL One Birmingham Champion as British pro Matthew ‘Ari’ Walker got to celebrate in front of an overjoyed home crowd.
And at the same time, there was yet another electric crowd lapping up the Call of Duty League Major 2 tournament.
The live crowd brought the energy and had people excited about CDL again.
Adam Adamou, ceo of Toronto Koi’s parent company Overactive Media, posted on social media how delighted he was with the event and stressed:
“Hopefully it’s becoming obvious [to the CDL] that CoD is best in front of a live audience.”
“That’s the heart of this game as an esport. Think big. Increase to Eight Majors plus Champs. That means more games and a longer season. There’s no reason we need to end the season in June,” he added.
The event ended with a classic showdown between old rivals FaZe and OpTiC as FaZe Vegas won the CDL Major 2 and claimed the $150k (£114k) grand prize.
If you attended DreamHack Birmingham, share your experiences with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
And there could be more for British CoD fans to look forward to with a CDL Champs return to Europe on the cards.
