Insomnia Gaming Festival has teamed up with UK esports organisation Excel Esports and mobile operator EE to host the Valorant Women’s Cup.
This is a first for Insomnia in that it will feature 16 teams competing for a share of a £10,000 prize pool. However, it’s not the first women-only esports activity at Insomnia – there was an i69 Women in Esports showmatch in August 2022.
The Valorant Women’s Cup LAN tournament is for those who attend Insomnia 71 at the Birmingham NEC with a LAN ticket using their own PCs.
The Excel Game Changers all-women Valorant team will also showcase their talents including Cornelia ‘Neli’ Johansson, India ‘cataLina’ Dubourg, Safaa ‘Purii’ Baydi and Camille ‘Luzia’ Millet.
The final two games will unfold on the Esports Stage and will be co-hosted by Daniela ‘Jupi’ Grald from Excel Esports and an Insomnia caster.
According to the Excel Game Changers Liquipedia page, several members of the team recently left, so it isn’t clear whether the players have rejoined semi-permanently or if they’re on board for this tournament as a one-off. We’ve reached out to a representative to ask and will update this article when we receive clarification.
An update sent to members of the press read: “This collaboration marks another milestone for women in the esports world and emphasises the importance of empowering and inspiring the younger generations.”
It’s the latest esports activity announced for Insomnia 71, following news that a CS ESL Prem LAN Finals and other esports tournaments will take place at i71, plus Birmingham will host the Apex Legends ALGS Championship 2023 next to the NEC, at Resorts World Arena.
In other recent EE news, an EE Fortnite in-game store launched, with streamers hired as virtual guards.
Valorant Women’s Cup prize pool breakdown and schedule
The Valorant Women’s Cup at i71 features the following prize pool breakdown:
- 1st: £5,000
- 2nd: £2,500
- 3rd: £1,000
- 4th: £600
- 5th: £300
- 6th: £300
- 7th: £150
- 8th: £150
Thursday 7th September
- 9am – 12pm: Tournament Check In
- 12pm: Group Stage Round 1
- 1pm: Group Stage Round 2
- 3pm: Group Stage Round 3
- 4pm: Group Stage Round 4
- 6pm: Group Stage Round 5
Friday 8th September
- 11am: Double Elimination Playoffs Round 1 (Top 8 teams. Bo3)
- 2pm: Double Elimination Playoffs Round 2 (Bo3)
- 5pm: Double Elimination Playoffs Round 3 (Bo3)
- 8pm: Double Elimination Playoffs Round 4 (Bo3)
Saturday 10th September
- 11am: Double Elmination Playoffs Lower Finals (Bo3)
- 2:30pm: Double Elmination Playoffs Grand Finals (Bo3)
There’s more info and sign ups on the Valorant Women’s Cup page on the ChallengerMode website here
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.
