A handful of UK talent will take part in the Rocket League RLCS Winter Major at DreamHack San Diego in April 2023.
Oxygen Esports and Gen.G Mobil1 Racing have two English players each – Archie and Rise on Oxygen, and ApparentlyJack and Noly on Gen.G. They will all be playing at the RLCS Winter Major.
This comes a few months after the Gen.G UK Rocket League players won the Fall Split Major and Gen.G won the North American RLCS Fall Invitational.
DreamHack San Diego is a three-day gaming lifestyle festival with an expanded slate of programming for the weekend of April 7th to 9th at the San Diego Convention Center.
The festival’s first-ever stop in San Diego will feature tentpole esports tournaments across the most popular titles, an exclusive screening of The Super Mario Bros. Movie with celebrity guests, an assortment of casual and competitive LAN experiences with nearly $1m in total prizing, the launch of a new charity initiative in partnership with the Autism Society San Diego and more.
Rocket League Championship Series RLCS Winter Major
The top 16 internationally ranked Rocket League squads will descend upon San Diego for the latest major: the Rocket League Championship Series RLCS Winter Major.
The $310,000 tournament will take place at the RLCS Stage at DreamHack San Diego. DreamHack attendees can secure their spot with an RLCS Seating add on.
Top Brawl Stars, Clash of Clans teams face off in largest-ever Snapdragon Pro Series powered by Samsung Galaxy North American competition
As well as the RLCS Winter Major, the Snapdragon Pro Series powered by Samsung Galaxy will feature top mobile esports competitors from North America as they compete for $100,000 in total prizing.
Fans can watch the live Brawl Stars and Clash of Clans finals at the festival or visit the Snapdragon Pro Series booth to learn more about how to go from competing on their couch to becoming a global champion.
$250,000 Fortnite Tournament open
Fortnite will return to DreamHack’s casual and competitive lineup with the DreamHack Open Featuring Fortnite, a Zero Build competition kicking off at DreamHack San Diego.
Available to all BYOC ticket holders, the competition provides an opportunity for attendees of all skill levels to test their mettle and clash for $250,000 in prize money.
DreamHack Magic the Gathering
DreamHack San Diego hosts Round 2 of the United States Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship. The country’s best players will compete for their share of the $130,000 prize pool and a chance to qualify for The Gathering Pro Tour and the Magic World Championship.
DreamHack Magic also offers competitive and casual formats for players of all types, including:
- An open $10,000 Phyrexia: All Will Be One sealed tournament
- An open $10,000 standard tournament
- Hourly drop-in tournaments
- Open play Commander
- Four and eight-person events throughout each day
Between sets, attendees can visit the Magic Artist Alley, chat with MTG influencers, and teach new players about the classic card game through MagiKids.
DreamHack Fighters
As well as the RLCS Winter Major, the San Diego fighting game community will have opportunities to connect and compete in 11 titles. Some of the DreamHack San Diego fighting game activities include:
- Brawlhalla Esports – DreamHack San Diego is the year’s first tournament stop for Brawlhalla’s 2023 esports program, with $70,000 in prizing across singles and doubles circuits.
- DreamHack Fighters – DreamHack will host 14 tournaments – including singles and doubles play – across popular fighting game titles. Each tournament game requires a $1 fee to play, with cash prize pools across each competition. Participating titles include:
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Street Fighter V
- Tekken 7
- & more
$40,000 BYOC LAN Tournaments & Freeplay
Competition takes place on and off the stage at DreamHack San Diego, including 10 bring your own controller (BYOC) tournaments across eight titles. Festival goers can compete against fellow festival attendees in Overwatch 2, Valorant, Rocket League, and more, with nearly $40,000 up for grabs throughout the weekend.
Casual players can either grab a BYOC LAN spot or take part in the largest-ever Freeplay experience at a DreamHack event.
Dethrone the King of the Hill
Throughout the weekend, DreamHack attendees are invited to climb the Pyramid and dethrone the King of the Hill in Fortnite. Play against attendees and surprise stars head-to-head for a chance to sit atop one of DreamHack San Diego’s biggest stages.
DreamHack’s Largest Arcade Cabinet Library
DreamHack San Diego brings the largest arcade of any DreamHack festival to date, with 50 cabinets and something for everyone to enjoy. Attendees can mull through a library of arcade favourites, including both retro classics like Pac-Man and Galaga, as well as modern mainstays like Dance Dance Revolution – all free to play with general admission.
DreamHack San Diego tickets start at $36 for a single day and $89 for three-day access, with more information available at dreamhack.com/sandiego/tickets.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
