Webedia is the official media partner of CAGGTUS 2023 in Leipzig. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is part of the team that is live on site and was at the huge LAN party. A lot there reminds him of what he missed during the Corona years: real festivals.
I went to the CAGGTUS in Leipzig with our editor-in-chief Leya Jankwoski and around 20 people from the GameStar, GamePro, Video and Co teams. For 3 days we streamed live from there, gambled or argued directly on stage.
For everyone who doesn’t know: the CAGGTUS is a new event that follows the Dreamhack in Leipzig. Thousands of gamers meet in several halls, marvel at cosplays, watch streamers or gamble. With their own computers.
Because the heart of the event is the huge LAN party, where hundreds of tables are lined up. People bring their machines, set them up and play all sorts of games shoulder to shoulder.
You sleep directly behind it on beds you have brought with you, mattresses or simply on towels. Yeah, I don’t know either, but I can’t imagine this guy’s back pain.
When Leya invited me to come along, I didn’t really know what to think of the event, which also sells itself as a festival. Already on the second day I am really excited.
LAN parties have been around for many years. At that time you met and gambled with a small group, but also experienced unforgettable things. There are now huge events like the CAGGTUS. In the talk, MeinMMO author Mark Sellner, GameStar editor Géraldine Hohmann and I talk about our best moments on LANs:
“It’s a different feeling here, completely”
I love metal festivals. Even in the mud, there are always happy faces and friendly guys who will bawlly offer you a beer if you accidentally stumble into their camp. Everyone gets along, you meet a lot of cool people and you can just do whatever you enjoy for a few days at a time. And of course I’m also a huge metal fan, which is why I also celebrate Kalle Koschinsky quite a lot.
The CAGGTUS is surprisingly similar. The feeling of: “This is where I belong, here everyone is like me” comes through really strongly. The image of the gamer sitting alone in the dark basement is completely dispelled here. You don’t have to be ashamed to gamble for 15 hours on your day off. You’re more likely to be smiled at because that doesn’t sound like much.
Everything is gambled on. From shooters like CS:GO, Rainbow Six: Siege and Overwatch to strategy games like Civ 6 and Humankind to survival and building games, I really see every genre on the screens. LoL is played surprisingly often.
I even walk up to some guys who are actually playing WoW and ask if I can watch. We immediately start talking and after their dungeon we continue to talk because I’m interested in what fascinates people so much about a LAN.
We’ve been there before in 2018 and just walked around. Then we saw the LAN area and thought we wanted to do that too. We were there for the first time in 2019 and planned to come back the following year, but then the big C came. That’s why we’re here again now.
Richard
It’s a different feeling here, completely. Otherwise we only play on Discord at home because we are geographically far apart. Here you can just sit and gamble for 3 days… you said that festival feeling. That’s included. You sit together, drink together. It’s just a different atmosphere to play than at home.
We play WoW because we lack a bit of alternatives. The last time we played Call of Duty, but there is no tournament right now. At WoW we all have the greatest denominator together.
Kai “HELGAAAAAAA”
What particularly surprises me is the effort some of the guests make here. There are PCs on racks to show off the cool case mods and RGB lighting. On the wall, e-sports clans beam their advertising and member recruitment, or someone runs memes in a continuous loop.
There are even flags and pavilions around, like I know from Wacken and SummerBreeze. Curious, I asked one of the young women sitting in the group why the hell they have a pavilion with them. The answer comes happily: “I don’t know, but it’s awesome.” We also get into conversation:
Dead by Daylight is my highlight game. But we are a motley crew of about 18 people here. Met through university, childhood friends… we also have a friend from England here at the start. We have people from the Dresden area, but also from Munich, from the north, Hamburg, we come from North Rhine-Westphalia. So really wildly mixed.
Chritina
I then continued to stroll around the LAN for a while and just enjoyed being there. Someone is banging on the table for getting caught in a shooter. Someone else shouts “HELGA!” and dozens answer. An ancient tradition from Wacken.
Suddenly someone somewhere appears to be applauding a good play. Two more get on, then the line and finally half the hall cheers … anyone stop and roar their approval.
I step over any people sleeping peacefully on their sleeping mat. At 3 p.m. Right next to it, someone is laughing at their colleague who is up to mischief in a game.
As I leave the area, I encounter people in dinosaur costumes, pajamas, or cosplays. Not something I’d wear to the muddy festival ground, but something that might similarly happen at my favorite metal events.
I feel very safe – and go back to our booth with a smile.
This crazy LAN photo gets its own documentary