by Delaney Tarr, Managing Editor
“Today, gaming is in every man’s hand.”
There are over 3 billion gamers worldwide, and from May 15-17 about 60,000 of those gaming fanatics will convene at the Georgia World Congress Center for the largest-ever DreamHack festival hosted by ESL FACEIT Group.
It will transform downtown Atlanta into the ultimate gamer haven.
Esports competitors, casual gamers and streamer fans will be able to take part in the festival. It will feature tournaments, an artist alley, developer displays, streamer meetups, cosplay, free play and several major competitions with high-dollar prizes.
Gone are the days of gaming as a niche community or “nerdy” culture. ESL FACEIT Group Festival Director Kalle Pilfak said when the festival began in Sweden in 1994, there was a drastically different digital landscape.
“It was about internet culture, which back then was something that was kind of related to basement dwellers and nerds, you know?” Pilfak said.
Things are different today. According to Pilfak, games are in “every man’s hand.” In 2025 alone the video game market generated roughly $189 billion in revenue, according to the Global Games Market Report. Meanwhile, esports is projected to reach a $7.46 billion market by 2030.
“It’s booming, but it’s booming in a sustainable way,” Pilfak said.
Gaming culture is no longer hidden in basements. Twitch, an interactive livestreaming service for game content has helped popularize esports and streamers. Content creators often sit in front of the camera for hours while they play the likes of Fortnite, Counter-Strike and League of Legends to an audience of millions. It’s a new type of celebrity.
“These guys are Madonnas, Spice Girls, Janet Jacksons, right?” Pilfak said. “But they’re online.”
Some professional gamers even turn it into a career. The Call of Duty League has 12 official teams that compete in a franchised league for cash prizes often totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
DreamHack will host one of the Major III events of the 2026 Call of Duty League season, a premier tournament for the professional players. All 12 official teams will be joined by four amateur teams as they compete to qualify for the Championship Weekend in Las Vegas. In 2025, the prize pool hit $2 million.
The festival will also host Intel Extreme Masters for the first time, marking a milestone in competitive gaming. As the longest-running global pro gaming tour in the world, IEM currently hosts competitions for Counter-Strike 2.
“We know how passionate Atlanta’s gaming community is, and we’re excited to bring back the top tier competition to a city with such a rich history,” Marc Winther, ESL FACEIT Group’s Counter-Strike esports director said. “Hosting IEM at DreamHack will make for an unforgettable weekend of elite competition and festival energy.”
The competitions will be held live, allowing attendees to watch as their favorite players vie for top prizes– in the case of IEM, about $1 million in total winnings.
While competitive gaming culture may not be as mainstream as football or soccer, it draws eyes. It draws crowds. In turn, the festival draws developers looking to get eyes on their work.
“We have this area, we call it the Playground,” Pilfak said.
The “Playground” is a space for 61 developers to display video games they have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars working on. DreamHack helps them gain an early audience and potential customers.
Attendees will be able to explore new games and play familiar favorites, watch esports competitions and meet their favorite streamers.
DreamHack is reminiscent of the music festival model. Both need to sell tickets, and both put art on display. But at DreamHack “people are playing the art.” The model has resonated – 2026 will be the biggest festival in DreamHack history.
And it’s all happening in Atlanta. This year marks the eighth consecutive year DreamHack will host a festival in the city. This year, Atlanta will be the only United States stop for the world’s leading gaming lifestyle festival.
Pilfak said the city has a strong legacy of hosting events like the 1996 Olympics and the upcoming FIFA World Cup. It helps that Atlanta is all in on esports. It has one of the only esports tax credits in the country, and Georgia offers a robust varsity high school esports pathway.
But Pilfak also thinks the culture of Atlanta – rappers, music, news and film – keeps the city appealing for future festivals.
“(Atlanta) is open to new ideas, embracing new trends and phenomena,” Pilfak said.
Georgia has embraced DreamHack and gaming culture. In May, Resurgens Gaming, Ghost Gaming and Skillshot will host Games Week Georgia to celebrate the video game and esports industry.
Throughout the week, the organizers will host a creator summit, esports summit for educators, marketers and developers, and the U.S. Esports Team Showcase and board meeting. It will all culminate in “three of North America’s largest gaming and fandom events:” DreamHack Atlanta, Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta and MomoCon.
ESL FACEIT primarily focuses on the work at DreamHack. But Pilfak is aware of all the energy and events around it. He hopes one day the festival could operate like South by Southwest’s jointly organized music, film, art and technology festivals all happening in Austin, TX at the same time.
“If we could create an ecosystem in a new city, what else could you wish for?” Pilfak asked.
But to Pilfak, it’s most important that attendees get to meet each other in the real world. Gaming is far from its basement days, but most of the community remains online. Come May, fanatics will be able to play a game with an online friend, or meet a content creator in their environment.
“It’s all about interaction,” Pilfak said.
Delaney Tarr is a Florida native-turned-Georgia lover with years of experience covering the ins and outs of Atlanta. She specializes in untold stories, eclectic profiles and hard-hitting news.
