As we previously informed you, DreamHack 2012 will have a slightly different format than last year, featuring four open spots - Summer, Stockholm, Valencia and Bucharest - all flooding into the grand finals of DH Winter in November. The system through which players will earn spots for DH Winter can be followed in the picture below.
What is not seen on the image is how the open tournaments will work. They will now feature an open sign-up with a tournament fee instead of being small invitationals like in 2011. The contenders will go though a group stage and once the tournament reaches the Ro8, the players will move to the grand stage where they can compete under audience's cheer.
DreamHack Winter will be a 24-man event. Eight players will represent the top two of each open stop. 12 will come from the DreamHack ranking, formed in the way shown above. Four more will stream in from the last chance qualifier at DH Winter's venue. The total prize pool for all five events goes above 135,000 EUR.
The action begins on April 21st with DreamHack Stockholm Open and it, as every other event, will be streamed in HD for free.
Source: DreamHack.se
