As momentum builds up towards i48, we take a look at the line up this Spring. The Insomnia Gaming Festival (or iSeries) is held three times a year in Telford, medial to Birmingham and the Welsh border. Over time the festival has grown to become a behemoth of tournaments and events.
There is a wide variety of tournaments available for spectators to take part in. The “Bring your own computer” or “Bring your own console” (BOYC) tournaments run over several days and require you to bring your own copy of the game as well. “Turn up and play” (TUP) is similar to BOYC but equipment will be supplied to you when you compete. “Pay as you Go” (PAYG) tournaments have a single entry free and last only one day. The last type of open-tournament is “Free 2 Play” (F2P) which can be entered by anyone with a spectator ticket. F2P’s are usually quick, small scale tournaments which can last as little as a few minutes.
Now onto the i48 eSports tournaments where the big boys and girls come together from across the world to prove their worth on the latest gaming titles. A total minimum prize pool of £31,500 is up for grabs from several tournaments including Starcraft II, COD: Black Ops II (Xbox 360) and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Find details for this Spring’s Insomnia eSports below.
| PC | Team Fortress 2 | 6v6 | £1,000 |
| PC | League of Legends | 5v5 |
£2,500 |
| PC | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 5v5 |
£4,000 |
| PC | Minecraft | £1,000 | |
| PC | Starcraft 2 | 1v1 |
£10,000 |
| Xbox | Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 | 4v4 |
£4,000 |
| Xbox | Fifa 13 | 1v1 |
min. £1,000 |
Apart from holding some of the UK’s biggest and best competitions under one roof, the iSeries is well known for giving the gaming community and industry a chance to get together and socialise. Throughout the four days i48 will be hosting massive giveaways on the main stage as well as the opportunity to take part in their pub-quiz. After a long look at what is available, it is easy for me to say that you could easily get away with buying a spectator ticket and still have a great chance of having a good time. Hopefully, if Insomnia is willing to allow us press access Velocity Gaming will bring you extensive coverage from the event.
i48 runs from 22nd March until 25th March at The International Centre in Telford.
That looks like an amazing time – tickets are a bit pricey for me at the moment though. Fingers crossed you guys get press access!