Supernova Events and Esports Limited, the company trading as Player1 Events which ran Insomnia Gaming Festival, has entered voluntary liquidation.
This means the company is closing and those it owes money to will attempt to be paid.
Supernova Events and Esports Limited is one of several subsidiaries of Supernova Capital, which bought Insomnia and Player1 Events from UK retailer GAME in 2021.
Letters have been sent to creditors informing of the news. David Rubin and Paul Weber of insolvency firm Begbies Traynor have been appointed joint liquidators for the process. This is the same company that was appointed when MNM Gaming entered administration and Promod Esports entered liquidation.
Documents recently sent to creditors show that the company owes just over £8m overall.
According to an estimated statement of affairs as of May 29th 2024, it owes unsecured creditors the following: £610,850 (trade and expense creditors), £32,289 (landlords), £15,018 (HMRC/employer national insurance contributions) and £236,680 (in employees’ unsecured claims).
HMRC is also listed as a preferential creditor with £56,224 owed.
Just under £4.7m is owed to intercompany creditors, meaning other Supernova companies, including Supernova Capital LLP, Supernova Capital Two Limited and Supernova Management Limited.
Wedgwood FIC Limited, owned by Supernova Capital co-founder and CEO Paul Wedgwood, is listed as a preferencial creditor due to holding a floating charge worth £400,000, meaning he is more likely to receive this amount ahead of unsecured creditors.
£2m in share capital will also be lost, bringing the total owed to £8m.
There is around £600,000 in assets listed. But after the liquidators, HMRC and Wedgwood FIC Limited have been paid, there isn’t much left to go to everyone else.
What this all means, is that most companies and individuals owed by Supernova Events and Esports Limited will not receive their money. However, employees owed can claim some of the money owed you from the UK Government’s Redundancy Payments Service.
Elsewhere, the Insomnia Gaming Festival website has also expired.
The news comes a few weeks after mass redundancies at Player1 Events left the future of Insomnia Gaming Festival uncertain. Now, it seems, Insomnia is all but gone.
Creditors have received a copy of the company’s statement of affairs.
A virtual creditors meeting was due to be held on June 3rd 2024, however the director of the company is now considering terms for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). This would in theory provide for a greater return to creditors than the previously planned Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL). So, the meeting has been cancelled and the CVA will be proposed to creditors instead.
RuneFest 2024, which was due to run alongside Insomnia later this September, now faces uncertainty, while contractors and freelancers have been left unpaid from the previous Insomnia this year.
Update (July 3rd 2024): The RuneFest 2025 rearranged dates, venue and ticket info has been confirmed.
Publicly, Supernova Capital has not commented about the situation. Co-founder and CEO Paul Wedgwood is the only director currently listed on the Supernova Events and Esports Limited listing on Companies House, which is closing.
On May 28th 2024, a notice for compulsory strike-off was made on the Companies House filing history page too.
Two other Supernova Capital companies – Supernova Capital Two Limited (which owns Player1 Events) and parent Supernova Capital LLP – have also received a notice for compulsory strike-off because they haven’t yet filed accounts.
Several other Supernova Capital listings on companies house remain, including Supernova Capital One Limited, Supernova Capital Three Limited and Supernova Management Limited.
Related article: Life after LAN: What’s next after the Insomnia news? Former Insomnia managers set up LANcraft Events, emails sent to creators confirm Player1 Events is no more, community Discord set up
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.
