Insomnia Gaming Festival issues statement following relaunch backlash

Insomnia Gaming has released a statement in response to community concern and backlash following its shocking announcement. The event is set to return in Spring 2026 despite its controversial exit last year.

In the statement, Insomnia addresses concerns surrounding laid-off staff, unpaid teams that contributed to previous events and expressed hope to to ‘do right by the community.’

The previous Insomnia event was held in March 2024 (i73). This became the centre of reports online that Player1Events, Insomnia’s organisers, underwent staff layoffs. Furthermore, Esports Insider reported that some companies had yet to be paid for their i73 services.

In September 2024, Esports Insider reported that over £500,000 of debt was unresolved, despite some freelancers being paid. At the time of publishing this article, there has been no update on whether those payments have since been resolved.

These were all issues that were raised when the Spring 2026 announcement was made, which was then addressed in the latest Insomnia Gaming statement.

In the statement following the backlash, Insomnia highlighted the community’s most burning concerns and questions. It began by emphasising that Player1Events was no longer involved and that ‘the company no longer exists.’ Insomnia is back with a new team at the helm, but they are also in talks with ‘veterans’ to bring an ‘LAN-first approach’ to the event.

The next issue the statement covered was the topic of laid-off staff and outstanding payments. Insomnia shared that investors behind Player1Events made donations to ensure content creators and small traders who participated in i72 were paid, and they also provided redundancy pay to all staff.

In the statement, Insomnia said: “As for team payments, we’re not aware of any outstanding issues, but if any teams believe they’re still owed, we want to hear from you. Please reach out directly so we can look into it and help resolve anything necessary.”

Other announcements include honouring any free tickets or VIP passes won in the last Insomnia event, promising to look into claims. They also shared that the Discord server will be brought back, with more information and an invite link being shared in the near future.

“We know trust is earned. That’s why, to us, this open and honest conversation we’re having with you is more than just a series of posts,” Insomnia said. “It’s the first step in building something special, together.”