Video interview: epic.LAN MD on future changes, a new board game event and the beach party at epic21

This week, Esports News UK’s live Twitch channel interview was with Epic Gaming MD Jon “winbar” Winkle, founder of epic.LAN.
We asked him about upcoming changes, details of next week’s epic21 (including Overclockers taking part in tournaments and the ‘beach party’), as well as a new board game event and why epic.LAN doesn’t have League of Legends anymore…
We’ve pulled different segments from the interview, which is embedded in full at the bottom of this post.
 

New developments – epic.LAN is getting bigger and better

The current home of epic.LAN – Kettering Conference Centre – is being developed further.
There will be a hotel built for venue attendees, with a base price undercutting local hotels – making it ideal for epic.LAN visitors.
“I want the event to be bigger,” Jon Winkle said. “We have a venue that can support that growth. But however we grow, I want to keep that community feel and what we do for esports.
“It’s going to get better for people next year anyway. The venue we use – the Kettering Conference Centre – was taken over by a new parent company on April 1st. They’re investing huge amounts into the venue.

“They’re building a 194-room hotel on-site. The fact that staff, casters and participants can walk out the front door and into a hotel room will make a huge difference to the quality of the event.
“They’re putting a restaurant in on-site too, they’re putting a Costa in.
“There’s also a full 400-seat fully kitted-out theatre on-site too, it was one of the things we looked at when we picked the venue – that’s where we want our finals in a few years’ time.
“Bigger, better, keep improving the quality but keeping the same feel – it’s a challenge for me but that’s what I want to see.”
 

Plans for a dedicated board game event 

epic.LAN already has a section for attendees to play table-top games; now it’s planning a separate event on this for 2018.

 

epic21 preview: There’s a ‘beach party’ and OCUK entering tournaments

epic21 will have its own beach party when it takes place next week (Thursday 15th – Sunday 18th June 2017). The beach party promises to be ‘camp, with party games, drinks and hideous Hawaiian shirts).


 

Why did epic.LAN stop running LoL tournaments?

Last chance to attend epic21 

Don’t forget to grab your tickets here, or sign up as a volunteer.
Jon revealed that some big names in British esports like Pansy and Machine have volunteered at epic.LAN in the past.


 

Watch the full epic.LAN interview

Check it out on the Esports News UK YouTube channel here:

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.