More than 3,000 computer games fans are expected to visit Telford this week after the town’s international centre secured a deal to host one of the UK’s biggest gaming events.
The i43 Insomnia Gaming Festival will take place at Telford International Centre this weekend, and will see thousands of gamers of all ages competing for prize money of around £20,000 in a series of tournaments.
The event, which runs from Friday until bank holiday Monday, was due to be held in Newbury, but in May organisers decided to switch the venue to Telford because of the facilities available – especially the speed of the site’s internet connection and the amount of space available for visitors.
A spokesman for i43 said: “We have been looking at venues to take the i-Series forward and whilst Newbury is great and we love it to bits, we are struggling to grow the i-Series there.
“Earlier this year the management team here at Multiplay visited the Telford International Centre, and we were all very impressed with what they had to offer.
“Essentially if we were building a venue for LANs (Local Area Networks) from scratch, it wouldn’t be far off this.
“With the problems we encountered at Newbury and the potential of a 1,600 player cap, we simply could not accept a step back for our biggest event. We believe this move marks a turning point, both in the history of the i-Series and the development of the UK scene as a whole.
“It’s now time to break out and take the insomnia events to a level not seen before.”
Emma Robinson, event organiser at the TIC, said the event was expected to bring a lot of people into the town.
“It is absolutely going to be good for Telford,” she said.
“We’re expecting about 3,000 people to come to the show, so that’s really good for us and for the town.”
Ian Skelton, from TIC, said: “We are delighted to be involved with this prestigious national event. We expect it to be a very successful and fun event as the festival is aimed at both novice and experienced gamers alike.”
During the four-day event, gamers from the local area will be playing PC and Xbox games against people from across the country, showing their expertise at games including Call of Duty, League of Legends, FIFA 11 and World of Warcraft in a bid to win the top prize of the weekend – a state-of-the-art bespoke computer system worth over £2,000, donated by Midland Computers of Halesfield.
There will also be separate halls for competitions, exhibitions and displays, a “turn up and play” section and a dedicated “chill out” area.
The event is expected to be the biggest LAN party in the UK – gathering the most gamers online together at the same venue than at any other event.
By Pam Griffin