Editing DreamHack (section)

==History==
[[Image:Winter 2004 DreamHack LAN Party.jpg|right|thumb|290px|Computer screens illuminated at DreamHack Winter 2004]]

Dreamhack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends in the basement of an elementary school in Malung, Sweden, in the early 1990s. In 1994, it was moved to the school [[cafeteria]] and became one of the larger regional demo tech and gaming events at the time. This event was also the first to be called DreamHack.

In 1997, the event took place at Arena Kupolen in [[Borlänge]] and became the largest LAN party of Sweden and the third largest party in [[Scandinavia]] at the time. Furthermore, DreamHack 2001 and the upcoming events were held at the [[Elmia]] exhibition centre in [[Jönköping]], where it has been since until the last Dreamhack Jönköping, both Winter and Summer, where held in 2024, after 30 years in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nyheter |first=S. V. T. |date=2024-09-03 |title=Dreamhack lämnar Jönköping |url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/jonkoping/dreamhack-lamnar-jonkoping |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=SVT Nyheter |language=sv}}</ref>

In 2002, DreamHack had events twice a year. Initially, DreamHack Summer in June was focused on computer games, and DreamHack Winter was more focused on computer program demos and was held during the last weekend of November. Today, the focus of summer and winter is same.

In 2011, DreamHack AB went through a corporate reform, renewing the company administration.

DreamHack winter 2011 hosted League of Legends season 1 World Championship. The next year's [[League of Legends World Championship]] was held independently.

It was announced on November 15, 2012, that DreamHack would be partnering with [[Major League Gaming]] (MLG) and [[Electronic Sports League]] (ESL) to help facilitate the growth and development of the North American and European [[esports]] scene. These partnerships included universal rankings, unified competition structures, and more.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tach|first=Dave|date=2012-11-15|title=MLG, Dreamhack and ESL partnership aims to unify global eSports|url=https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/15/3651360/mlg-dreamhack-and-esl-partnership-aims-to-unify-global-esports|access-date=2021-09-02|website=Polygon|language=en}}</ref>

In 2013, DreamHack AB grew into a corporation. Later they added a third event during the late summer in Stockholm. It was hosted at Globe Arenas in 2014.

In November 2015, Modern Times Group bought DreamHack for 244 million [[Swedish krona]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-11-12|title=Modern Times Group is at it again, this time acquiring Dreamhack|url=https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/modern-times-group-is-at-it-again-this-time-acquiring-dreamhack/|access-date=2021-09-02|website=Critical Hit|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In response to the increasing visibility of older gamers, in June 2019 DreamHack hosted the first senior World Cup for [[Counter-Strike|Counter Strike]].<ref name="He">{{Cite book |last=He |first=Keren |title=Games & Play in Chinese & Sinophone Cultures |last2=Eyman |first2=Douglas |last3=Sun |first3=Hongmei |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=9780295752402 |editor-last=Guo |editor-first=Li |location=Seattle, WA |pages=193 |chapter=Gaming while Aging: TheLudification of Later Life in Pokémon Go |editor-last2=Eyman |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Sun |editor-first3=Hongmei}}</ref>

In 2020, on the 30th of September, ESL announced that it had merged with DreamHack. The two companies are functioning as one, but the two brands are operated separately.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-10-01|title=ESL, DreamHack merge; brands to remain separate|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/esports-business-dreamhack-esl-merge-idUSFLM3pGR49|access-date=2021-09-02}}</ref>