DreamHack Open 2014 to have 6 stops, with a total of $200,000 on the line

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

The DreamHack 2014 Open will feature $200,000 over six events for StarCraft 2 players, including the grand finals at DreamHack Winter.

“DreamHack Open had an explosive ending in 2013 with Team Liquid’s TaeJa concluding a year of domination with a victory over StarTale’s Life. We are very excited to see how the stories will unfold in 2014”, DreamHack CEO Robert Ohlén told onGamers. “Of course none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors, so we are thrilled to welcome back EIZO and HyperX, as well as welcome Razer and thank them for making 2014 the biggest year for DreamHack Open yet.”

With a newly added stop in Moscow, Russia, each DreamHack Open event will qualify four players to the championship event at DreamHack Winter at the end of the year.

"For many years the CIS countries have had a high interest in the DreamHack events", DreamHack Project Manager Michael 'Adebisi' Van Driel told onGamers. "That includes a high numbers of participants at our events, several news/coverage/community sites have always attended our events and a huge viewer base in different disciplines. Also the CIS market has grown rapidly, so several of our partners have a high interest in having a stronger presence in the region."

"One key component was also to find a great partner to work with in the region and we are very happy to have a partnership with Techlabs. For this year we are sure the Moscow event will be one of the highlights but we are of course following the troublesome development in the region and hope that it will be peacefully solved soon."

DreamHack Bucharest will be the first stop on the 2014 tour, with each event featuring an open-signup of upto 96 players. All competitors will compete in 3 group stages to narrow down to 16 players, and from here the competition will become single elimination best of 3, with a best of 5 grand finals.

The winner of each standalone event will earn $10,000 and 750 WCS points, with $25,000 and 4,000 WCS points in total for each event. The top 4 players from each event qualify for the finals. Only the top 4 finishers of each live event can qualify for the DreamHack Winter championships.

"One of DreamHack’s core values is to have open tournaments where everybody can participate if possible", said Van Driel. "Therefore, DreamHack Open is designed for both professionals and amateurs to compete in equal terms and be treated the same."

"However for the Grand Finals at DreamHack Winter we want to have the best performing competitors from the whole year and we believe that LAN is where the highest level of competition should take place and be rewarded."

"We feel that 20 players is a great number of players to have at our Grand Final at DreamHack Winter, we also want to make sure we are providing players a good opportunity to qualify for DreamHack Winter by attending a tour stop, so we did not want to reduce the qualifying slots to only the finalists. Overall this feels very natural for us, as it is great to have the storyline build up throughout the year."

All teams are welcome to send their players to the tour. Van Driel indicates in the spirit of fairness, that teams and players must pay their own way to the event.

"As mentioned previously, for DreamHack Open one of the key components is to have an open format where everybody can compete on equal terms", he said. "Over the years we have seen a steady growth of the number of participants as well as regional spread of players due to the prestige of winning a DreamHack event. As well for DreamHack Winter, all participants will have already won money for participating in the DreamHack Open tour. We believe that DreamHack Open 2014 will be the best StarCraft II year for DreamHack so far."

DreamHack will broadcast the tournaments for free in 720p on Twitch. In continuing their partnership with SVT, all grand finals matches of each event will be broadcasted live on Swedish television. DreamHack says they plan to revamp their broadcast "to make use of a greater pool of commentators and personalities to present StarCraft matches in a way never before seen by the StarCraft audience."

The full list of dates, tournament format and broadcast details can be found below. DreamHack Bucharest signups have already begun.

DREAMHACK OPEN DATES

DreamHack Bucharest

26-27 April, Sala Polivalenta, Bucharest, Romania

DreamHack Summer 2014

14-16 June, Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden

DreamHack Valencia

18-19 July, Feria de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

DreamHack Moscow

13-14 September, Stadium Live, Moscow, Russia

DreamHack Stockholm

26-27 September, Stockholm Globe Arenas, Stockholm, Sweden

DreamHack Winter 2014

27-29 November, Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden

Total Prize Money : $200,000

DreamHack Open Tour Stops

Bucharest – Summer – Valencia – Stockholm – Moscow

Total: $25,000 and 4,000 WCS Points, top 4 qualify to DreamHack Winter Grand Finals

1st place: $10,000

Runner-up: $5,000

3rd/4th: $3,000

5th-8th: $1,000

DreamHack Open Grand Finals at DreamHack Winter

Total: $75,000

1st place: $30,000

Runner-up: $15,000

3rd: $10,000

4th: $6,000

5th/6th: $4,000

7th/8th: $3,000