Multiplay UK
Encyclopedia
Multiplay UK hosts the largest LAN party
in the United Kingdom, the I-Series. These events were hosted at Newbury Racecourse
in the United Kingdom from i5 to i33 when the venue was relocated to Stoneleigh Park
for i34, increasing the total amount of BYOC places to 2000, i38-42 returned the event to Newbury. The latest event, i43 has moved to Telford International Centre. Multiplay UK are also the largest Game Server
Provider in Europe, hosting over 18000 online game servers. Additionally, Multiplay UK holds agreements with companies such as Electronic Arts
and Vivendi
in which they are allowed to host official "ranked" servers for certain games.
held in the United Kingdom. This spawned the I-Series events, and the success of these also resulted in Multiplay UK's other events and services, including the StratLan events, the short lived StratLan-based Manalan, and the company's game and web server hosting.
from i5 to i33 where it was then relocated to Stoneleigh Park
. I-Series LAN parties are generally three times per year.
Since the original Insomnia 99 event the number of attendees has increased considerably and lead to changes in venues over time. The location for the first 4 I-Series events was Swindon Town F.C.
's stadium in Swindon. For i5 the event had outgrown the stadium in Swindon, and therefore moved to Newbury Racecourse
's Berkshire Stand. Later the Grandstand at the same location was used and then occupied both stands during events. For i34 the event moved to Stoneleigh Park
near Coventry with space for 2,000 participants plus spectators. The i38 event moved back to Newbury Racecourse from the 13-16 November 2009, i38 announced that they would hold the first ever Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 tournament. Furthermore, The first ever competitive match hosted by Activision at i38 was played between Element and Team Dignitas, but Element had a player under the age of 18 which disqualified the team from the tournement along with six other teams which included Epsilon(Finland) Empathy(UK) and Infused(UK).
Multiplay announced that they are hosting a 500-person event at Newbury Racecourse, titled "i-Lite" alongside three main i-series events in 2010.
Multiplay recently announced a change in venue for Insomnia43 moving from Newbury Racecourse over to Telford
International Centre due to tickets selling out so fast. Some users on the Multiplay forums were not happy with the decision to change from Newbury Racecourse
- The spiritual home of the i-Series
i-Series events generally have a number of both prize winning and non-prize winning tournaments as well as a variety of exhibitors. Both the number of prize tournaments and exhibitors have increased in recent events.
's national qualifiers for the World Cyber Games
at their I-Series events for a number of years, working on behalf of Samsung Electronics UK for the 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 games. For the 2009 games Multiplay have been confirmed as the strategic partner by global organiser International Cyber Marketing. The 2009 UK National Final is set to be held at M Festival, Multiplay's own video gaming festival over 7–10 August at Stoneleigh Park
, near Coventry. M Festival also features the i37 LAN party event, which will see over 2000 PCs on the "Bring Your Own Computer" LAN, coming close to breaking the UK record held by Multiplay's i34 event at 2070.
.
LAN party
A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
in the United Kingdom, the I-Series. These events were hosted at Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
in the United Kingdom from i5 to i33 when the venue was relocated to Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Events is located south west of the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England.The site covers about , of which is maintained...
for i34, increasing the total amount of BYOC places to 2000, i38-42 returned the event to Newbury. The latest event, i43 has moved to Telford International Centre. Multiplay UK are also the largest Game Server
Game server
A game server is a remotely or locally run server used by game clients to play multiplayer video games. Most video games played over the Internet operate via a connection to a game server...
Provider in Europe, hosting over 18000 online game servers. Additionally, Multiplay UK holds agreements with companies such as Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
and Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
in which they are allowed to host official "ranked" servers for certain games.
History
Multiplay (UK) Limited was incorporated in May 1997. After running a number of smaller 25-150 player LAN events, Multiplay hosted Insomnia99, a 300-player event. At that point, it was the largest LAN partyLAN party
A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
held in the United Kingdom. This spawned the I-Series events, and the success of these also resulted in Multiplay UK's other events and services, including the StratLan events, the short lived StratLan-based Manalan, and the company's game and web server hosting.
I-Series
The I-Series events, which are the largest regular LAN party in the United Kingdom, were hosted at Newbury RacecourseNewbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
from i5 to i33 where it was then relocated to Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Events is located south west of the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England.The site covers about , of which is maintained...
. I-Series LAN parties are generally three times per year.
Since the original Insomnia 99 event the number of attendees has increased considerably and lead to changes in venues over time. The location for the first 4 I-Series events was Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
's stadium in Swindon. For i5 the event had outgrown the stadium in Swindon, and therefore moved to Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
's Berkshire Stand. Later the Grandstand at the same location was used and then occupied both stands during events. For i34 the event moved to Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Events is located south west of the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England.The site covers about , of which is maintained...
near Coventry with space for 2,000 participants plus spectators. The i38 event moved back to Newbury Racecourse from the 13-16 November 2009, i38 announced that they would hold the first ever Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 tournament. Furthermore, The first ever competitive match hosted by Activision at i38 was played between Element and Team Dignitas, but Element had a player under the age of 18 which disqualified the team from the tournement along with six other teams which included Epsilon(Finland) Empathy(UK) and Infused(UK).
Multiplay announced that they are hosting a 500-person event at Newbury Racecourse, titled "i-Lite" alongside three main i-series events in 2010.
Multiplay recently announced a change in venue for Insomnia43 moving from Newbury Racecourse over to Telford
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
International Centre due to tickets selling out so fast. Some users on the Multiplay forums were not happy with the decision to change from Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
- The spiritual home of the i-Series
i-Series events generally have a number of both prize winning and non-prize winning tournaments as well as a variety of exhibitors. Both the number of prize tournaments and exhibitors have increased in recent events.
StratLAN
StratLAN, a smaller LAN party without large tournaments or exhibitors, is hosted in Stratford Racecourse.World Cyber Games
Multiplay UK have also hosted the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's national qualifiers for the World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
at their I-Series events for a number of years, working on behalf of Samsung Electronics UK for the 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 games. For the 2009 games Multiplay have been confirmed as the strategic partner by global organiser International Cyber Marketing. The 2009 UK National Final is set to be held at M Festival, Multiplay's own video gaming festival over 7–10 August at Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Park
Stoneleigh Events is located south west of the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England.The site covers about , of which is maintained...
, near Coventry. M Festival also features the i37 LAN party event, which will see over 2000 PCs on the "Bring Your Own Computer" LAN, coming close to breaking the UK record held by Multiplay's i34 event at 2070.
.
External links
- Multiplay UK Company Website