MTG Makes New eSports Investment

STOCKHOLM: MTG has acquired DreamHack, Scandinavia's leading eSports company, for SEK 244 million ($28 million).

DreamHack runs both local and global eSports leagues, tournaments and championships. Its seven live events in 2014 attracted a total audience of over 105,000 people, and eSports fans have watched 34 million hours of DreamHack content online. 

DreamHack will continue to be run by the same management team. The deal follows MTG picking up 74 percent of ESL, another eSports company. Other recent digital plays for MTG include investments in Zoomin and Splay.

“DreamHack is the leading eSports company in Scandinavia and attracts millions of passionate gamers to its online leagues and live events," said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG's president and CEO. "This complements our recent investment in ESL, and reinforces our commitment to video gaming as one of the most watched and fastest growing online video categories. We are excited about working with DreamHack’s talented team to bring this great entertainment to even larger audiences around the world. Our strategy is to invest in relevant, complementary and scalable digital brands, content and communities. We are creating a digital video entertainment ecosystem and eSports is at the very center of this given its global appeal and huge following.”

Marcus Lindmark, DreamHack CEO, added: “DreamHack is already Sweden’s largest digital festival. MTG’s investment will not only enable us to consolidate our position, but also accelerate the international expansion of our festivals across the globe. Our vision is to make DreamHack the festival of choice for Millennials everywhere. 

We have years of experience as an innovative and successful eSports organizer and broadcaster, and of making entertaining eSports content for both traditional and digital media partners. We have been working closely with MTG for the past two years to grow the eSports even further, so we know each other well and look forward to taking our cooperation to a new level.”