While I’m a sucker for games like World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, there’s a particular magic tucked away in the core of the indie gaming scene. Titles that’ve been worked on by solo developers and tiny groups often don’t get their flowers, but events like DreamHack have the power to change this.
I covered DreamHack Birmingham 2026 for Kyusai, along with my lovely colleagues, and was delighted to find an indie alley section of the convention when I arrived. Here’s a bite-sized rundown of the event if you weren’t able to attend in-person.
DreamHack Birmingham was exactly what the scene needed
It feels like a daft thing to say as a video game journalist, but sometimes, it feels like there are too many video games. My backlog alone is ten miles long, and it can be hard to keep up with new indie releases in genres I love, like visual novels or sci-horror.
That’s one of the reasons why events like DreamHack feel more important than ever. More often than not, gaming events feature an indie alley or solo dev showcase area in their map, and DreamHack was no exception, with a variety of stalls on the show floor dedicated to indie teams and solo developers.
At most of the stands, you could sit and chat with folks from the game teams; I spoke with a developer about her work on Chronicles Reborn, for example, and one of the marketing folk from NINE ROUNDS RAPID.
Learning about the game from a digital preview or Steam page is one thing, but getting to hear about it from the people who’ve worked on the game directly, in person, is an unmistakably exciting experience.
The love indie teams pour into their work is infectious, and I came away with a brand-new list of developers and studios to check out that I might not have seen online otherwise. If you’re someone who’s never been to a gaming convention, this is one of the best reasons to add it to your bucket list.
It wasn’t just indie games on offer at DreamHack, though; tech brands were out in full force, with everyone from Samsung to our pals at Razer showing off the latest and greatest goodies in their roster.
Trying out the Samsung Galaxy XR was another favorite moment of the show – while it was admittedly a little tricky to use as someone with bad eyesight, it was undeniably cool to travel through the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a wave of my hand. The headset was surprisingly lightweight and easy to use.
Triple-A games had the spotlight during DreamHack, though, with punchy tournaments and creator-led shows for fans to enjoy.
As someone who’s primarily into horror games and indie roguelikes, I never thought I’d be interested in seeing a Call of Duty match live, but getting into the CDL arena and watching the teams rip into each other was genuinely engrossing, largely due to the electric atmosphere and hollering fans.
All in all, DreamHack was a delight on all fronts – but particularly thanks to the indie teams who took the time to share their work with the community.
That said, I’d love to see an even bigger indie game section at the 2027 DreamHack Birmingham show, with an even wider variety of sub-genres and styles on display. Being able to try out upcoming titles and connect with developers is one of the best parts about events like this, no matter your favorite genre or style.
FAQs
DreamHack Birmingham 2026 took place from March 27 to March 29, 2026.
DreamHack Birmingham 2027 will run from April 2 to April 4, 2027.
No, DreamHack takes place in multiple locations, like Atlanta and Stockholm.
While a large chunk of DreamHack does focus on esports, there’s still plenty of general gaming and tech goodness to enjoy.
