GAME Esports and Events (previously known as Multiplay) has announced its global expansion of the Insomnia Gaming Festival.
The UK’s well-known LAN event has confirmed multi-year agreements with various event organisers across the globe to take Insomnia to Egypt and Dubai, with Saudi Arabia, South America and Australia to follow shortly.
The partnerships include The Global Event Management Group working in the UAE and across the Middle East, and BME Global Ltd, an international events company with expertise in organising events in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and North Africa.
The first international Insomnia event will take place in Cairo this October, followed by similar events in Dubai in 2019. The event will cover a mix of gaming from Minecraft to esports, as well as zones such as Retro Gaming, Cosplay, Indie Zones and stage content.
Martyn Gibbs, CEO of GAME Group, commented: “Video games and esports are now a truly global form of entertainment and it seems fitting that we can share our passion for games on a global basis through Insomnia Event series.”
“We are extremely pleased to be bringing Insomnia to Egypt. This is very exciting news for all gamers in the region.”
Ahmed Elgohary, BME Global
James Magee, CEO of Global Event Management in Dubai, added: “We have been watching the incredible growth in awareness of esports and gaming in the Middle East for some time, and as a consumer events company were really keen to enter the market; the team at GAME have given us outstanding insight into the sector as well as solid practical support in planning our Insomnia event.”
Ahmed Elgohary, CEO of BME Global, commented: “We are extremely pleased to be bringing Insomnia to Egypt. The event is a place for gamers of all backgrounds and ages to socialise while discovering the latest games and products. This is very exciting news for all gamers in the region.”
Insomnia63, the next Insomnia event in the UK, will take place at the Birmingham NEC from August 24th to 27th.
Insomnia in the UK attracts a consumer footfall of 70,000 per event, and GAME says its social channels grown by over 95% in the last 12 months.
On the esports front, Insomnia partnered with Activision to bring Call of Duty World League to the UK and hosts a range of other tournaments including Overwatch, League of Legends and more. A large gaming expo runs alongside the LAN.
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.
