General Information
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General Info
We run prize winning tournaments at every event, which do vary from year to year as new games come out.
There are of course some firm favourites which nearly always make a return at every event. Counter-Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, Call Of Duty 4 and Starcraft2 are among the regulars at the event, but make sure you keep an eye on our tournaments page to see what we have planned for each event!
You can even setup your own tournament if you want! Just ask one of our tournament admins and they will create you a full tournament setup in our event tournament system :)
Also, if you find that people are playing a game that you don't have, don't worry! We have our own local Steam content server, which allows you to get your gaming purchases super quick!
The Insomnia Gaming Festival is a gaming event for all ages, where gamers and industry leaders alike come together to celebrate games in all their forms.
Held 3 times a year at the International Centre in Telford, insomnia is a fusion of gaming, exhibitions, tournaments & social gatherings resulting in a festival that really does have something for everyone!
For more info about our events, check out our Events Page
You can also check out our Coverage Pages to see what our events are all about!
The Insomnia Gaming Festival is held 3 times a year at The International Centre in Telford.
The first event of the year is during May, the second in the summer over the August Bank Holiday, and the third in November.
See the Google Map below for the location of the venue:
Tickets Prices:
Bring your own computer/console (BYOC): £92 and allows 24/7 access to the whole 5 day event!
Note that during our early bird offers, tickets are as cheap as £63!
Spectator Pass: £10 per day or £25 for the whole event
This ticket gives you full access to the Exhibition where you can see some of the biggest names in the industry showing off their latest developments. You can also watch our world class tournaments live as they unfold, seeing the best in action!
Group bookings can also be made for booking multiple BYOC tickets at once, see our bookings page for more information
In short, any game you want! If you have it, you can play it at the event, no matter what section you are sat.
You can even setup your own tournament if you want! Just ask one of our tournament admins and they will create you a full tournament setup in our event tournament system :)
If you find that people are playing a game that you don't have, don't worry! We have our own local Steam content server, which allows you to get your gaming purchases super quick!
We run prize winning tournaments at every event, which do vary from year to year as new games come out. There are of course some firm favourites which nearly always make a return at every event. Counter-Strike Source, Team Fortress 2, Call Of Duty 4 and Starcraft2 are among the regulars at the event, but make sure you keep an eye on our tournaments page to see what we have planned for each event!
If you have purchased a BYOC ticket, then the answer in short is; yes. Assuming you want to play anything that is! You can bring your PC and your console if you wish, but bear in mind that anything you bring on-site is your responsibility!
There are loads of consoles and PC's to play on in the exhibition hall with a huge range of games, which is great for both Spectator ticket holders and BYOC ticket holders alike, but if you are attending for the whole weekend as a participant, you will want to bring your own machine :)
Multiplay is a Hampshire based family run company, started way back in 1997 by Craig "Wizzo" Fletcher as a small LAN company.
Since then Multiplay has grown into one of the worlds' largest Game Server Providers (GSP's) with over 4 million gamers playing on 12,000 servers every month. With nearly half a million registered members, Multiplay is also one of the largest communities in Europe!
Multiplay's flagship event is the Insomnia Gaming Festival; a fusion of games, industry exhibitors and a social festival atmosphere.
It is the biggest gaming festival in the UK, playing host to over 2000 avid gamers 3 times a year. Ran by Multiplay employees and an army of volunteer event crew, the Insomnia Gaming Festival or i-Series as it's known, has become a home to eSports in the UK.
You can see who is attending the event by going to our attendance list page, which lists everyone that is currently sign-up and paid for an event.
You can also see who is sat where by going to our seat picker page.
Yes, you can find a map of the venue here
Oh yes there is! We have a rather nice 1Gb/s of internet bandwidth, kindly provided by event sponsor Demon Broadband. Not only does it allow everyone to play online, but it's enough bandwidth for just about everyone to browse the web too!
Due to the amount of people and expensive equipment on-site, we ensure that a full security team is present 24/7 throughout the event. Not only are security present within the event itself, but they are also present throughout the event grounds, including the camp-site.
If you wish to speak to us about how we manage the security of the event, head over to our Contact Us pages to get in touch.
Yes security will be present within the event at all times.
Due to the amount of people and expensive equipment on-site, we ensure that a full security team is present 24/7 throughout the event. Not only are security present within the event itself, but they are also present throughout the event grounds, including the camp-site.
Whilst we do employ a security protocol at the event for all equipment brought on-site, we must stress that no matter how much we try, there will people that will get round our security measures if you don't take reasonable steps to secure your own gear.
Upon entering the event you will be given security stickers to attach to your equipment, which will match the event pass that you will be given. When you try and take equipment from the venue, your event pass ID will be checked against the stickers attached to your equipment. We also search bags for things such as laptops and consoles, which can be hidden away when leaving the venue.
Graeme from Kustom PCs has created a very useful Security Guide on securing your equipment at the event using the latest security products which we suggest everyone reads before attending!
Whilst we have only had a very very small number of thefts in the last 10 years of the event, we still stress to customers that Multiplay takes no responsibility for the security of your equipment at the event!
For this reason we strongly suggest you check if your computer / other devices are covered under your home contents insurance whilst you're away from the house. Many common policies will cover your equipment whilst it's at our event, but you need to double check with your provider that this is the case.
Yes, you will be able to purchase security equipment from Kustom PCs at the event, or you can pre-order from Kustom PC's website ready for pickup at the event. If you pre-order you can even get a discount by using the code at the end of this guide.
Graeme from Kustom PCs has created a very useful guide on securing your equipment at the event using the latest security products which you can find here
We suggest everyone reads this guide before attending!
Yes, we have a fully qualified team of first aiders on site 24/7 during the event, who will be contactable via the front desk or any member of staff or event crew. All event staff carry radio's, and can alert first aid staff if required.
You can find out what's going on throughout the event by heading to our What's On pages.
You can also find out what's happening on the main stage by heading to our coverage pages during the event, and checking out the schedule.
Due to UK law, smoking is prohibited in any of the buildings on site at the event. You can however, smoke outside!
The alternative of course, is to quit smoking altogether ;)
Mere is the standard by which we measure the time period between now and the beginning of a LAN event. When we say the beginning, we mean the earliest time which a participant is officially allowed to arrive. For some LAN parties, this will include an Early Arrival Service. So if an ‘EAS’ is available, it is taken as the beginning of the event.
But how do we know when we are allowed to call Mere? Well, there are two widely adopted standards for levels of Mere. These are known as S.O.D.D.O.M. and Expansion. The difference between the two standards is basically the grey area concerning plural time measurements. Read the Mere Days Website for more information about how the two standards are calculated.
There is some argument between which standard should be ultimately adopted for calculating mere, which has raged for a long time. In an attempt to find order amid the chaos, we turned to the only person who we deemed worthy enough to settle the argument; the Queen.
See the letter and the response here:
