Esports at i72: Insomnia the Gaming Festival announces return of Valorant Women’s Cup with EE and GiantX, Overwatch 2 is back, and LAN trading card tournaments will take place for the first time
Dom Sacco, Senior Editor
Last Updated: 28/05/2025
What kind of esports at i72 will we see? The organisers of Insomnia the Gaming Festival have confirmed the tournaments, organisations and other initiatives at the event – here’s a quick roundup.
Insomnia will once again take place at the Birmingham NEC, this time from Thursday March 28th to Sunday April 1st 2024 (those are the dates for the LAN/esports area, while the main festival/expo will run from March 29th to 31st).
A notable year for the show, 2024 marks the 25th year of the show, and also brings in a slight name change to ‘Insomnia the Gaming Festival’, as the event celebrates a quarter of a century in bringing the community together.
Commenting on i72, Mussarat Rahman, Head of Marketing at Player1 Events said: “This year Insomnia turns 25, a milestone that symbolises our journey through the evolving gaming landscape, and what a transformation it’s been!
“With a focus on delivering unparalleled experiences for our community, Insomnia is poised to reinforce its status as the UK’s leading gaming event for many more years. We look forward to revealing more about the exciting plans we have in store for visitors for i72 in the coming weeks; keep your eyes peeled.”
£10,000 Valorant Women’s Cup and £5,000 Valorant iSeries Open at i72
The Valorant Women’s Cup is returning for i72, presented by EE and GiantX, boasting a £10,000 prize pool.
Michelle’s Kittens won at i71 (see photo above), beating Escaped Da Kitchen in the final.
There’s more info below:
🚨 UK VALORANT 🚨
— GIANTX League of Legends (@GIANTXLeague) February 9, 2024
We are back again for @IGFestUK #i72 with another £10,000 VALORANT Womens Tournament presented by @EE and GIANTX
For more information and to enter your team, follow the link in thread 👇 pic.twitter.com/sjktfH99zz
As mentioned, there’s the separate mixed Valorant iSeries Open, with a £5,000 prize pool, plus an Online Open tomorrow (February 17th) to give teams the chance to win tickets for the LAN:
Battle for supremacy at the Valorant iSeries Open this March! 🔫
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) January 30, 2024
🎉 Prize Pool: £5,000
🏆 Format: 5v5
Compete in our Online Open on the 17th Feb for a chance to win tickets to compete in the iSeries Open at Insomnia72.
🌐 Register for our Online Open: https://t.co/rMe3oEUlHd pic.twitter.com/LZ052RJwkz
There will also be daily Valorant tournaments in the Daily Tournament Zone.
Overwatch 2 returns to Insomnia Gaming Festival
Overwatch is back after being missing from i71 last September.
It has a £3,000 prize pool and an online open for teams to get the chance to win tickets to the main LAN event.
There will also be casual Overwatch 2 cups each day in the Daily Tournament Zone.
Unleash your ultimates this March at the Overwatch 2 iSeries Open! ⭐
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) February 1, 2024
🎉 Prize Pool: £3,000
🏆 Format: 5v5
Compete in our Online Open on the 18th Feb for a chance to win tickets to compete in the iSeries Open at Insomnia72.
🌐 Register for Online Open: https://t.co/Ku30NRnTq6 pic.twitter.com/M2cwb2wJcU
CS2 iSeries Open
CS2 teams will be able to go head-to-head in the Counter-Strike 2 iSeries Open at i72, featuring a £5,000 prize pool.
There’s also an Online Open happening tomorrow (February 17th) offering tickets to compete in the full LAN open.
Rush B this March at the Counter-Strike 2 iSeries Open! 🪖
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) February 2, 2024
🎉 Prize Pool: £5,000
🏆 Format: 5v5
Compete in our Online Open on the 17th February for a chance to win tickets to compete in the iSeries Open at Insomnia72.
🌐 Register for our Online Open: https://t.co/B2k3kRxWlU pic.twitter.com/5B4HsfaSV3
League of Legends is back at Insomnia
League of Legends has a £3,000 tournament at i72:
Champion your skills this March at the League of Legends iSeries Open! ⚔️
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) January 29, 2024
🎉 Prize Pool: £3,000
🏆 Format: 5v5
Compete in our Online Open on the 10th Feb for a chance to win tickets to compete at Insomnia72 this March.
🌐 Register for our Online Open: https://t.co/xAbrKCN7QB pic.twitter.com/hEv459Cjdf
One of the teams taking part, DMG United Kingdom, recently announced their roster for the event: Pigheadd, Mikey, Pure, Yang 03 and ICL Steven.
“This is, once again, a multi-talents team gathered from the university League scene that claimed several championship titles individually,” DMG’s regional manager ICL Steven said.
Rocket League iSeries Open at i72
Rocket League has the lowest prize pool of the main esports tournament games at i72, with a £2,000 prize pool, however it is a 3v3 game, with the others mainly 5v5.
Boost to glory this Easter at the Rocket League iSeries Open! ⛐
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) January 31, 2024
🎉 Prize Pool: £2,000
🏆 Format: 3v3
Compete in our Online Open on the 18th Feb for a chance to win tickets to compete in the iSeries Open at Insomnia72.
🌐 Register for our Online Open: https://t.co/FotJiRWQ5Y pic.twitter.com/uct0cG02Ww
Escape from Tarkov Arena at Insomnia
There’s also a LAN tournament in Tarkov taking place:
🪖 Join the fray with Escape from Tarkov Arena at Insomnia72!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 24, 2024
Dive into thrilling tactical combat, challenge yourself in gladiator fights, and dominate the arena as you compete in the @tarkov LAN tournament this Easter.
🌐 #i72 Playable Games lineup: https://t.co/fD1LNfdQ5R pic.twitter.com/TyKjyOFIrt
Casual tournaments, CoD showmatch, Scan Invitational, NSE student esports finals and Oxbridge Varsity 2024 at i72
More esports activities have been announced at the festival since the publication of this article.
Insomnia Gaming Festival will kick off the Oxbridge Esports Varsity 2024 – read more on that here.
National Student Esports (NSE) will host its British University Esports Championship 2024 finals too, and there will be a Scan Invitational.
🤩 We are only 1 WEEK away from our #BUECSpring2024 finals at @IGFestUK!
— National Student Esports (@nse_gg) March 22, 2024
🏆 Aside from our live finals, we've got some amazing partner activities for everyone to get involved with.
🗓️ Full schedule coming early next week.
❤️ Look out for the NSE Zone and we'll see you there! pic.twitter.com/i9apgmtPT6
🤩 We are happy to announce the @ScanComputers Invitational!
— National Student Esports (@nse_gg) March 21, 2024
⚔️ Battle against fellow university students and alumni in Overwatch 2 across two days of action.
🏆 Prizepool: £500
🗓️ Dates:
Swiss Stage – Sat 13th April
Top 8 – Sun 14th April
✍️ SIGN UP: https://t.co/8FFNT8tXLa pic.twitter.com/yKuHjF2xoD
A CoD showmatch will also take place:
🏆 Introducing Insomnia Versus!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 22, 2024
Team @lMAngelikaa 🆚 Team @Iadygut
These two teams will face off in an electrifying Call of Duty MW3 show match, live on the #i72 Esports Stage, 11am Saturday 30th March.
Only one can emerge victorious, which side are you taking? pic.twitter.com/Bpe1vf1gdV
We’ve listed more below:
🏆️ The #i72 LAN Casual Tournaments lineup is here!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 20, 2024
With a wide selection of titles available, our casual tournaments are the perfect way to scratch that competitive itch this Easter.
🌐 Check out the full tournament lineup: https://t.co/TMZoaITrBG pic.twitter.com/IR4SPDY5wv
🚌 Drop into our HUGE 100-seater Battle Royale Bunker featuring Fortnite!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 19, 2024
Gather your squad and prepare for non-stop action as you compete against 99 other combatants in our Esports Arena this March.
🎟️ Join us at Insomnia this Easter to take part: https://t.co/zRCCsMsdh3 pic.twitter.com/U2NBs5jUsS
🏆️ Get competitive with daily tournaments at Insomnia72!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 19, 2024
✅️ Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
✅️ Valorant
✅️ Overwatch 2
✅️ EAFC 24
🌐 Find out more and pre-register today: https://t.co/Qa3RVoTHbN pic.twitter.com/M1yHCjQ4xk
Damp is also on board as LAN host:
🎤 Introducing our #i72 LAN host, @Dampptowel!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 24, 2024
Keeping you energised throughout this Easter LAN Party, DAMP will be on hand with some top-tier challenges and games to earn you raffle tickets and points for your Festival Cup team.
Make sure to say Hi when you catch her at LAN 👋 pic.twitter.com/lkACwSQ3om
There will also be a TFT Northern Legends area at the show:
👋 Play TFT with us at @IGFestUK!
— TFT Northern Legends (@TFTesportsNE) March 23, 2024
🤩 #NorthernLegends is heading to the Insomnia #i72 Gaming Festival next week. We’ll have games to play and merch to win!
🔗 Find us at Booth 32: https://t.co/pm6fvSsdBs pic.twitter.com/C5XnyNrj8S
Esports orgs at the i72 expo
UK esports organisation Into the Breach will have a presence at the Insomnia Gaming Festival 72 expo once again.
They will have gaming stations, special guest creators and have some exclusive merch available.
On top of that, the Into the Breach Knight will also be present, with Karoinna cosplaying as the org’s logo mascot.
📢 @ITBesports are back for Insomnia72!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) February 10, 2024
Dive into the action with ITB this March, giving you the chance to get hands-on in their unique gaming stations, meet special guest creators and even cop some exclusive merch.
🌐 Check out our latest updates: https://t.co/2uh7SRqJnH pic.twitter.com/QcdTi2hgfu
If you haven't been following my spam on IG stories, here is a quick reminder that I am currently working on the Knight for @ITBesports and soon will start showing some more progress so stay tuned 🗡#3dprintedcosplay #3dprinted #cosplayhelmet #3dprintedhelmet #cosplaycommission pic.twitter.com/yUWugILs0U
— Karoinna • Studio Karo Nova (@Karoinna) January 30, 2024
Fellow UK org Endpoint will also have a stand at i72, will daily challenges in Rocket League and Counter-Strike 2, plus a PC speed building contest.
The org’s UKIC LAN final for division 1 will also take place at the Birmingham NEC:
📢 @TeamEndpoint join us for #i72!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) February 3, 2024
Visit the Endpoint CeX booth this March, compete in daily Rocket League & Counter-Strike 2 challenges, and showcase your technical skills in their PC speed-building contest. 🔧
🌐 Check out our latest announcements: https://t.co/2uh7SRqJnH pic.twitter.com/tVK3xLJncv
Our first guests for our @IGFestUK #i72 stand are our Counter-Strike 2 team 😎
— Endpoint CeX (@TeamEndpoint) March 22, 2024
Next Saturday you can take on (and take down) our pro gamers in a series of challenges ✅ pic.twitter.com/Vn28TZl9HG
BIG STAGE FOR THE BIG GAME 👏
— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) March 18, 2024
Our LAN final for Division 1 will be held LIVE on the Esports Stage @IGFestUK #i72 on Friday 29th March ✅ pic.twitter.com/faIsrxSSi6
GiantX will also have a presence at the event.
Content creators and personalities at i72
In terms of content creators, Insomnia has announced that YouTube superstars Jelly and Slogo will be appearing at i72.
To date, 192 content creators and streamers have confirmed to be attending, including the likes of Pyrocynical, High Rollers and Session Zero.
There’s also Jennifer English, the voice of Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate 3, Aliona Baranova, performance director for Baldur’s Gate 3 and voice behind Corinna the squirrel.
📢 Shadowheart heads to Insomnia72!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) March 16, 2024
Jennifer English, the voice behind Baldur’s Gate 3’s daughter of darkness, will be joining us for #i72.
Find Jennifer in our Meet & Greet Zone on Friday 29th. 🤩
🎟️ Grab your tickets: https://t.co/zRCCsMsdh3
(👤 @JenandAliona) pic.twitter.com/wFXIsutLv1
Other special guests and creators at i72 include The Spiffing Brit, UpIsNotJump as well as many others listed on the Insomnia Gaming Festival guests page.
College of Esports at Insomnia 72
College of Esports and its London Legion team and content brand will be attending the gaming festival too.
In the main exhibition space, College of Esports will have a stand in the Education Zone, which will showcase the institution, students and campus facilities.
There will also be a series of broadcasting equipment showing off the bespoke virtual set software used to run a range of projects. Games design students will showcase their new game World War Fruit in the Indie Zone, with attendees able to play the demo.
London Legion will take part in esports tournaments including the League of Legends iSeries competition.
College of Esports and @London_Legion will be attending and exhibiting at @IGFestUK 72 from the 28th March – 1st April 2024.
— College of Esports (@CollegeEsports_) March 19, 2024
Read more:https://t.co/s8hwWF5rqv pic.twitter.com/OYHotc4y2Q
LAN trading card tournaments head to Insomnia Gaming Festival for the first time
While Insomnia has had a social games area in the past, where people generally play Pokémon and Magic The Gathering (MTG), organisers told Esports News UK this is the first time the event will host tournaments for those games.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament will run on Saturday March 30th from 10am, and the MTG one will run on Sunday March 31st also from 10am.
Both tournaments will have participation capped at 16 players (first come first serve), standard format and open registration.
Prizes in the tournaments include card packs, with first to fourth place winning prizes. First place in Pokémon will receive a booster box of Temporal Forces, while the MTG winner will be able to choose two of the Fallout Commander decks and receive eight Murders of Karlov booster packs. There’s more in the link from the tweet below.
🎴Compete in our LAN trading card tournaments this March!
— Insomnia the Gaming Festival (@IGFestUK) February 6, 2024
Take part in our Pokemon or Magic the Gathering tournament at this Easter LAN and be in with the chance of winning amazing prizes, including decks and boosters.
🌐 Find out more about TCG at #i72: https://t.co/187KPE08o5 pic.twitter.com/yVQaDUydS6
Insomnia i73 dates announced
Insomnia 73 will take place at the Birmingham NEC once again from September 4th to 8th 2024, with the LAN running on those dates and the festival/expo from September 6th to 8th.
It will host RuneFest 2024 and a a UK SuperDome esports event will also happen alongside it in Birmingham, which is happening as part of a £3m West Midlands funding boost.
Insomnia the Gaming Festival stats
A press release also revealed some stats around Insomnia.
- Starting as a small LAN event in 1999, Insomnia the Gaming Festival now welcomes over 30,000 visitors through its doors for the gaming festival.
- LAN parties at Insomnia have grown to become the biggest in the UK. More than 2,000 players gather for a weekend of non-stop 24-hour gaming
- 50,000 video games have been played on site
- It’s been the launchpad for over 150 video games
- £2m in prize money has been awarded at Insomnia over the years
- 25,000 content creators and high profile gamers have attended, including DanTDM, AliaA, Sidemen, Syndicate, Yammy, and The Yogscast. Insomnia was also notably referenced in the new documentary, ‘The Sidemen Story’, playing now on Netflix
You can get tickets to i72 on the official Insomnia Gaming Festival website here
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Dom Sacco, Senior Editor
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025. 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 also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.
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