For years, Insomnia was the heart of the UK gaming scene.
A place where LAN warriors, cosplayers, indie devs and caffeine-addled esports fans collided under one roof for a proper weekend of chaos. And now? It’s finally crawling out of the grave for Spring next year. Roll on Insomnia 2026.
The Fall of Insomnia
If you somehow missed the drama, Insomnia disappeared in 2024 after what can only be described as a financial faceplant. The organiser, Player1 Events, shut up shop and left a trail of unpaid staff, disgruntled exhibitors and about six to eight million quid in debt. It was a disaster. Like, bin-fire levels of mismanagement. The show went out not with a bang, but with the whimper of a closed support ticket and a Twitter feed gone silent. What was once the UK’s biggest and most beloved gaming festival just vanished.
Freelancers were left out of pocket. Exhibitors were given no clarity. Gamers who’d grown up with the event were gutted. Insomnia had been around for decades, a rite of passage for UK gamers, and watching it collapse like that was brutal.
Why We’re Hyped
So why are we buzzing about its return? Simple: the community deserves it. This country needs a proper, grassroots gaming event that isn’t just about flashy sponsors and influencer clout. Insomnia, when done right, was about turning up with your mates, hauling your rig into a LAN hall, and gaming for 72 hours straight. It was about wandering the expo floor and discovering weird little indie gems, or watching some poor sod in cosplay nearly pass out from heatstroke. Good times.
It had heart. It had personality. And yeah, it had its flaws – the odd overpriced burger, dodgy Wi-Fi, and queues that could make you age in real-time – but it was ours. A proper gathering of the UK gaming tribe, whether you were into competitive shooters, retro consoles, or just vibing with your crew.
Who’s Pulling the Strings Now?
The resurrection effort is being led by Novacorp, owned by Paul Wedgwood (the guy behind Splash Damage) and from what we’re hearing, Craig Fletcher, one of the original minds behind Insomnia, is back in the mix too. That’s promising. It suggests there’s at least some institutional memory in the room.
But there’s still plenty we don’t know. Who’s actually running things day-to-day? Are they going to publicly acknowledge the financial mess that tanked the last event? Have they sorted out the debts and bad blood left behind in 2024, or are we just sweeping it under the rug and hoping no one asks questions?
What We Know So Far
Insomnia 2026 is scheduled to return in March at the NEC in Birmingham, the old stomping ground. The usual fanfare is expected: a full LAN hall for bring-your-own-computer madness, esports tournaments, expo floors, cosplay competitions, and late-night chaos. It’s all sounding very familiar, and that’s a good thing, if (and it’s a big if) they can deliver without cutting corners.
The big thing here is trust. The community’s been burned. People who worked for the event were left in limbo. Tickets were sold before the last cancellation. If this new team wants to bring the magic back, they’ll need to be upfront and transparent about what’s changed, who’s in charge, and why we should believe it’ll be different this time.
Our Take
Right now, we’re cautiously optimistic. This could be a triumphant return, a chance to fix what was broken and rebuild something even better. Or it could be a tone-deaf rehash that pretends 2024 never happened.
We’re hoping for the former. We’re ready to book the weekend, pack the kit, and drag our half-knackered gaming chairs into the NEC once again. But we want honesty. We want accountability. And we want the organisers to respect the scene that made Insomnia a legend in the first place.
So yeah, Insomnia’s coming back. Let’s just hope it’s the festival we remember. Not the mess it became. If they get this right, Punk PC will be there. Loud, proud, and probably sleep-deprived.
TL;DR
Insomnia Gaming Festival is officially returning in March 2026 at the NEC Birmingham. After a spectacular financial collapse in 2024 that left debts and bad blood everywhere, new ownership is stepping in to revive the event. We’re excited, but not blind. They’ve got work to do to earn back the community’s trust. Done right, it could be the glorious return of the UK’s best gaming weekender. Done wrong, it’ll be another footnote in a long list of corporate screw-ups. Fingers crossed. We’ll be watching.
