Held the second edition in Jönköping this weekend
Published 2026-06-12 15.24
Dreamhack has shut down the BYOC lane.
This weekend, the new festival Glitched continues with the opposite – in the giant’s former premises.
– We want to renew the lane, says festival general Christoffer Melin.
Dreamhack had lived in Jönköping for decades when they moved to Stockholm two years ago.
Then the challenger Glitched started in the same place, the Elmia exhibition center. And when Dreamhack in May announced that they are shutting down -lane, Glitched’s status as an heir became even clearer.
– The fact that they shut down the lane feels incredibly sad, I think it’s part of the gaming culture and something that has been a part of my life since 2002, but at the same time I’m happy because it gives us the opportunity and the chance to grow and become even bigger, says festival general Christoffer Melin.
– I would say that it is not so surprising, you have seen that the focus was on developing the expo, partners and e-sports. They have been shifting their focus for quite a long period and it was clear that they wanted to continue going that way, says Stephanie Gogolin, crew and community manager for Glitched.
DH: “Feels love and respect”
Dreamhack says that over the past decade, they’ve seen a big change in how their community participates at Dreamhack:
“In 2025, fewer than 10 percent of our global visitors brought their own computers. Our community is instead developing towards curated gaming experiences, e-sports, creator culture and game-related activities,” writes Anna Nordlander, product manager and executive producer for Dreamhack in a text message.
“We feel nothing but love and respect for The LAN community. We actively encourage those who want the traditional BYOC experience to check out the many dedicated LANs still available in Sweden and around the world. There, Glitched is an excellent example, and we therefore think it’s great fun that they build on something we took to Jönköping 25 years ago.”
SEK 900,000 back
Glitched’s second edition takes place over the weekend and they expect around 25,000 visitors where the main target group is aged 25-35. In addition to the new part for Pokémon and Lorcana type collectible cards, the lane is thus an important part of the offer.
Jönköpingsposten has reported that last year’s edition was 900,000 kroner back, but that the organizers see that it is possible to turn it around.
– The money is taken out of our own wallets – that’s how much we believe in this! After all, we are four co-owners who all own other companies, so we have built all this from our own cash, says Christoffer Melin to the newspaper.
