UK consumers are spending more money on video games and the cultures surrounding them, including streaming subscriptions, donations and movies. They spent £66m on watching games, streaming and video content in 2025, an 8.3% increase from the £61m spent in 2024. This contributed to a total of £566m spent on game culture in the UK in 2025, a 42% year-on-year increase from £397m in 2024. This is according to the latest annual UK Games Market Consumer Valuation from UK games...

Leagues ApS, the esports tournament operator that ran the UK and Nordics Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), is shutting down, senior sources have confirmed to The Esports Advocate. The Danish company, which operated esports platform Leagues.gg and media subsidiary Leagues Media, recently told Riot Games it is ‘no longer in a position to run’ the NLC. Ramish Hussain, Head of Live Production at Leagues Media, said on Linkedin this week that “due to the company shutting down, my time...

Several esports entities in the UK have joined forces to represent Great Britain at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup. London-headquartered esports organization Fnatic has teamed up with The English Football Association (FA) via England Gaming, the British Esports Federation, Esports Wales, Scottish Esports and the UK Esports Team Committee (UKETC) to form a collective National Team Partner. Jeff Simpkins, who has led organizations including Resolve and the England Gaming team at the FIFAe World Cup, has been appointed National Team...

DreamHack Birmingham 2026 has announced Samsung as an official partner for the event and the esports tournaments running there. The event, taking place March 27 – 29 at the Birmingham NEC, will feature a Galaxy Café bespoke activation hub designed "to blend world-class mobile gaming with a premium festival atmosphere." This booth will feature new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra mobile devices and Samsung TVs for attendees to try, along with a variety of community competitions. There will be a Winner...

League ApS, organizers of the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), have told Riot Games they are ‘no longer in a position’ to run it. This comes just weeks ahead of the NLC Spring 2026 season, and follows a tumultuous period for the league. Leagues Media, the marketing and organizer arm of League ApS, let some staff go last year as part of its decision to centralise business operations in Copenhagen. More recently, NLC broadcast talent have been posting on...

The Los Ratones project might be over, but their impact as a player/creator-led entity, rather than a traditional esports organisation structure, has arguably changed tier 2 esports forever.  Last year, Los Ratones dragged the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) viewership to unprecedented new heights. The EMEA Regional League (ERL) for the UK, Ireland, and Nordics was one of the least-watched ERLs in 2024, with just over 2,000 peak viewers in its Spring split, according to Esports Charts. In Spring...

The UK’s major gaming and esports festival, Insomnia, will not be making its return after all, with Insomnia 74 officially cancelled.  The event was due to take place at the Staffordshire County Showgrounds from April 30th to May 3rd 2026. It was set to host esports tournaments, a BYOC LAN area, cosplay competitions, an expo, pub quiz and other activities as usual. 72 Insomnia events have taken place in the UK since 1999, with the most recent one, i72, running...