Not quite a competitor to PAX, but certainly cutting some event grass of the same colour, DreamHack has enjoyed a successful debut in Australia. Taking place in Melbourne over the weekend, the inaugural DreamHack Melbourne event saw just over 21,000 gaming and esports fans fill out Melbourne & Olympic Park with the event providing huge esports and cultural platforms for all things games.

Aussie esports stalwarts The Chiefs dominated in the League of Legends event, which served as the LCO Split 2 Grand Final. While the Halo arm of the organisation took out the Halo Infinite comp which was serving as a HCS ANZ Regional. Both teams from The Chiefs walked away with USD $15,000 and USD $20,000 respectively.

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A massive weekend for The Chiefs saw the local esports team take home victories in League of Legends and Halo Infinite, while Brazilian teams dominated the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament on display at DreamHack Melbourne. Over $200,000AUD prize money was awarded to the talented players competing across Rod Laver and Margaret Court Arenas in front of a roaring home crowd.

“Bringing the first DreamHack festival to Australia has been a huge accomplishment -- it was fantastic to see thousands of Australian and International gaming and esports fans come through Melbourne Park over the weekend.” said Nick Vanzetti, SVP and Managing Director of ESL Asia-Pacific Japan. “After a few challenging years without in-person events, DreamHack Melbourne has demonstrated that the appetite for top-tier live gaming and esports content is now higher than ever.”

The ESL Challenger Melbourne tournament brought the local Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) community together for the first time in three years to watch some of the world’s best teams compete over three fierce days. In an all-Brazilian Grand Final, paiN Gaming secured the top spot after an exciting finals series against Imperial, walking away with the trophy and $50,000 USD. Leading ANZ teams came in 5-6th (GRAYHOUND) and 7th-8th (Vertex Esports).

In the League of Legends Circuit Oceania - Delivered by Menulog (LCO) Chiefs Esports Club secured $15,000 USD and the win (3-1) against Pentanet.GG, who first knocked out ORDER in the Lower Bracket Finals. The Chiefs will advance to the world stage, going on to compete at the League of Legends World Championship later this year.

The Halo Championship Series (HCS) ANZ Regional Finals brought the best teams of Australia and New Zealand together in a 4v4 tournament played live in the famous Margaret Court Arena. After a strong run through the upper bracket, The Chiefs took home a convincing win against Mindfreak, with Divine Mind taking home third place. All three teams scored qualification spots to HCS Orlando and a share in the $50,000 USD prize pool.

Results - esports tournaments hosted at DreamHack Melbourne:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (ESL Challenger Melbourne)

• 1st. paiN Gaming (Brazil) - $50,000 USD
  
• 2nd. Imperial Esports (Brazil) - $20,000 USD
  
• 3rd-4th. Entropiq (Europe) - $10,000 USD
  
• 3rd-4th. Wings Up Gaming (China) - $10,000 USD

League of Legends (LCO Split 2 Grand Final - Delivered by Menulog)

• 1st. The Chiefs (ANZ) - $15,000 USD
  
• 2nd. Pentanet.GG (ANZ) - $10,000 USD
  
• 3rd. ORDER (ANZ) - $5,000 USD

Halo Infinite (HCS ANZ Regional)

• 1st. The Chiefs (ANZ) - $20,000 USD
  
• 2nd. Mindfreak (ANZ) - $11,000 USD
  
• 3rd. Divine Mind (ANZ) - $6,000 USD

It's been a remarkable journey for The Chiefs who recently underwent something of a culture realignment internally, as explored in-depth by yours truly elsewhere, while the DreamHack event itself stands as proof there's a hunger and thirst for more in this space on our shores. Congrats to everyone involved and here's hoping next year's event is even bigger.