UK LAN and gaming convention, Insomnia Gaming Festival, has finally addressed some of the concerns from the fallout of last year’s i72.
This comes as part of their first announcement since hinting at a comeback for Spring 2026.
In their post on social media, they addressed some of the major concerns allegedly from the community. However, their response has created more questions than answers.
The new Insomnia Gaming Festival has yet to put a name to the team, therefore, we can only refer to the organisers as ‘Insomnia’.
Insomnia’s response to the community
In this most recent announcement, they claimed to have formed a new team behind the scenes with a “LAN-first approach”.
However, in a later follow-up statement, they also said they had a “community-first future”, making it unclear what their main focus is.
Despite this, at the top of everyone’s mind is one question, didn’t they go bust?
A year on from the layoffs and liquidation, Insomnia has finally spoken on the matter, merely to confirm that Player1 Events is well and truly gone.
An expected outcome since any salvage operation of the company would come with an initial £8m price tag.
The new Insomnia appears to have used this opportunity to position Player1 Events as the scapegoat for all of i72’s problems.
Subsequently, they claim to be building from the ground up with a new team that will give them a “fresh start”.
They also addressed concerns which weren’t at the top of everyone’s mind, such as reimbursing promised VIP tickets and other prizes, as well as reviving the community Discord server.
Insomnia claims to be starting from scratch whilst also fulfilling financial obligations through the generous “donations” of its investors.
However, all is not as it seems with these contributions being inconsistent amongst those owed.
Did everyone get paid for the last Insomnia?
The sad reality is no, not everyone got their entitled compensation.
Many are still owed to various individuals for their work during i72.
After compiling accounts from sources to Esports News UK, receiving payments was challenging and incredibly inconsistent.
Adding to this, those who were paid after Player1 Events’ liquidation were made to feel fortunate to have received anything at all.
With repayments varying greatly between each case, it remains unclear who was paid for their efforts.
Due to this, many would be hesitant to work at an Insomnia event again.
However, with the lack of opportunities in the UK, some may opt to take that risk.
What Insomnia did not say
The statement made by Insomnia has shed light on their attitude towards the criticism, but they didn’t elaborate any further.
Whilst limited in their response, what Insomnia hasn’t said can also reveal a few extra details.
The first and foremost pressing issue being who is actually running the show.
The statement fails to mention any specifics outside of the Insomnia name while throwing Player1 events under the proverbial bus
As mentioned they are in talks with “Insomnia veterans” to help run the event.
We understand that this is true to a certain extent based on Insomnia founder Craig Fletcher’s confirmation to the initial announcement.
Comparing how the statement is written alongside our sources and previous public communication, we can also infer that individuals behind Supernova Capital are involved to a degree.
Supernova Capital being the parent company who led Player1 Events in its twilight years.
Likely because of this, they’re also failing to mention who or how they’ll finance this new Insomnia.
RuneFest organisers and fans will also be left guessing since Insomnia has also failed to address any of the circumstances surrounding their planned collaboration for RuneFest 2024.
The list goes on, as Insomnia now hides behind the guise of the “new team” to not address any of the issues with the previous convention.
The new Insomnia team has addressed some of the issues and promised new and exciting things to come.
However, they’ve only stayed in the present and seemingly refused to elaborate any further on the mess of their own creation.
Having written for Esports News UK since 2022, I’ve cultivated an extensive knowledge of all things esports.
Covering a wide variety of topics during my time as an esports journalist, it’s safe to say I’m a jack of all trades, if you’ll pardon the pun.
