Two former managers at Insomnia Gaming Festival are setting up their own venture, known as LANcraft Events Ltd.
Matt ‘Kharne‘ Macdonald and Michael ‘Geosnipe‘ Lambert, who were let go from Insomnia organisers Player1 Events in October 2023, have registered the UK business on Companies House.
Kharne was previously Esports Manager at Player1 Events, while Geosnipe was Community Operations Manager. Both were integral to the running of Insomnia and have years of experience working on it.
The LANcraft Events website currently states: “GeoSnipe and Kharne are working away in the background trying to bring you something we think is going to be REALLY COOL.
“We would love if you could come on this journey with us, so we want to start building a following for our new adventure.”
There is also a GoFundMe page that people can access to support LANcraft Events Ltd:
The business is targeting people ‘interested in all things LAN, esports and community gaming events in general’, and users can sign up to receive more information by registering with their email address on the website linked above.
While more concrete information around the business and its work is still to follow, it seems something special may be in the works here, by two people who are familiar with Insomnia.
Oh, and TF2 is confirmed for LANcraft Events:
The news of course comes a few days after all staff were made redundant at Player1 Events, leaving the future of Insomnia in doubt. Owners Supernova Capital have not commented publicly on the matter, leaving the community unclear as to what is happening next.
However, earlier today, some content creators involved with Insomnia Gaming Festival received an email from organisers Player1 Events, confirming that the company is indeed closing down.
The email, titled ‘Farewell and thanks’, and signed by Player1 Events former Head of Sales and Content, Chris Duggan, and Partnerships Coordinator Natasha (aka Tashnarr), has been seen by Esports News UK.
It reads as follows: “Hi pals, as you may have seen, Player1 Events is no more and with it, our time on Insomnia. This news is heartbreaking for us, we loved the show and all the communities within it.
“Working on Insomnia was more than a job and it is devastating to know we will no longer be doing it.
“But, we just wanted to thank you for all the support and content you have provided over the years. And whilst it was sad to have not known i72 would be our last show, working with all of you made it the best Insomnia yet. Of all the many hats we wore, working with our creators was easily the best one.
“Hope to see you at a show sometime in the future (I might be at MCM next Friday tbf). Look after yourselves and keep being awesome.
“This email is getting turned off in about 2 hours, so if you want to get hold of either of us then [contact us on Linkedin or Twitter].”
In terms of other similar gaming events to Insomnia, there are a few. There’s MCM Comic Con and EGX (though these are not LAN events), and there is of course Epic.LAN, a similar event to Insomnia but smaller. Its founder Jon Winkle has not commented publicly on the Insomnia situation.
Lastly, a separate unofficial community Discord server has been set up for Insomnia festival goers to chat, titled ‘The Gaming Collective’.
This post was made in the official public Insomnia Discord:
It’s incredibly sad to see and report on the Insomnia news. Supernova Capital has still not publicly commented on the situation despite our attempts to reach out.
We’ll do our best to provide more updates here on Esports News UK in the future, and wish all the best to outgoing staff – and LANcraft Events.
Related article: i72 esports winners roundup
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.
