CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses harassment.
DreamHack Melbourne was a resounding success by most accounts, but allegations of harassment by Kick streamers on social media have surfaced in the wake of the event.
A number of DreamHack Melbourne attendees have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share their negative experiences, with many praising the overall event but calling for the event organisers to sever their affiliation with the Kick streaming platform. “Shoutout to the Kick streamers at Dreamhack for harassing so many con guests that they’ve solidified the stereotype that they’re a bunch of edgy assholes,” user @owldaweeb claimed.
In the replies, other users claimed they had been harassed specifically by streamers from the Kick platform who were hosting IRL streams during DreamHack Melbourne. One user posted a clip of her own stream, in which another attendee approached her while alone and repeatedly asked why she was by herself and if she would take drugs with them before she got up and left.
Off camera, another voice, which sounds as though it could have been the interloper’s stream chat, appears to insult her appearance. The user shared the video with DreamHack’s social media team, who confirmed that the other streamer had been banned from the event, and to their understanding, also from their streaming platform. The user’s streaming platform has not been confirmed at time of publication.
Other DreamHack Melbourne attendees claimed streamers they believed to be from the Kick platform had been shoving cameras in others’ faces, approaching women standing by themselves, and, in one case, that a Kick streamer touched a cosplayer’s chest live on stream without consent and then approached that same person later in the event to further harass them.
DreamHack Melbourne took to social media this morning to address the allegations of harassment during the event. “People who come to our festival with the intent to disrupt, harass, or create negative experiences, are not welcome,” the post reads, “Incidents that we are/were aware of from the weekend have been dealt with, and those individuals will never be welcome at any of our events now or in the future.” The post ends by asking attendees to reach out with any further information regarding incidents so they can “take further action.” There have been calls for the event to drop Kick as a partner for future events in response to the allegations that have been surfacing online.
Kick partnered with DreamHack Melbourne for the event over the weekend. Kick had a stall on the expo floor, and a number of Kick streamers attended as official creators during the event. Kick is headquartered in Australia, and according to the Streams Charts site, last month, it recorded 152,000 active channels and 146 million hours of live content.
Kick Streaming Experience Lead and Head of Strategic Partnerships Andrew Santamaria responded to the DreamHack Melbourne X thread to announce he would be discussing the topic of harassment and how Kick was working with DreamHack to “develop policy around IRL streaming etiquette” going forward on stream this evening and opened the floor up to attendees to share feedback in the chat. To date, the official Kick social media accounts have otherwise yet to comment on the situation.
DreamHack Melbourne recorded over 35,000 attendees through the doors over the three-day event, a jump of almost 7,000 on the 2023 iteration, and was otherwise a resounding success based on event feedback and attendance. With over 600 content creators taking part in creator-focused activities over the whole weekend and a shift to more creator and community-focused events overall, all eyes are on next year’s event to see how the organisers manage the allegations and ensure future events remain a safe place for all attendees.
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about harassment, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
Image: Kick / ESL: Sarah Cooper
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