The 65th installment of the Insomnia Gaming Festival will be happening in little more than a month. Essentials.TF, who will be aiding in the organization of the TF2 tournament, have announced a fundraiser in partnership with Matcherino with a targeted goal of $5,000 USD (~£4,000 GBP). This will not only assist in subsidizing ESEA Invite team Ascent — who have confirmed they will be sending their NA squad to face off with their cross-continental counterparts Ascent.EU — but also bolster the current prize pool of £6,000.
We're happy to announce our fundraiser for #i65TF2!
— EssentialsTF (@TF2Essentials) July 15, 2019
We're calling on you, the TF2 community to help make i65 the best LAN yet. The money will contribute to the prizepool and will also help @AscentEsports come over to represent NA!
Check it out here:https://t.co/fjn8w6hGrp
CU@ pic.twitter.com/12uDUw0zFQ
The intercontinental organization are the first from across the pond to confirm they will defend North America’s honor at the tournament, in an announcement made on their Twitter for both their TF2 teams. This will mark the second time an American Ascent roster has attended an iSeries event, with the organization last appearing at Insomnia55 in 2015, aided by a fundraiser that also sent the dominant froyotech — the winning champions of i52, i55, and i63.
As stated in the Matcherino fundraiser statement, up to $2,500 (~£2,000) from the money raised will be reserved for Ascent to recoup their traveling expenses, with the other $2,500 being used to bump the current set prize money from £6,000, with a chance of raising up to £7,600 (~$9,500) or more.
This split fundraiser is using a gradual system to ensure that the donations will be equally shared, displayed in the infographic attached on Essentials.TF's announcement from Twitter. This distribution will be done whether the fundraiser reaches its goals or not.
The Matcherino marketplace page offers a variety of items and perks in true crowdfunding fashion, from a shout-out in the credits, to detailed demo reviews and more, with other rewards still yet to come. A percentage from the profits of every perk will also be used to help cover production costs for Essentials.TF. Alternatively, you can contribute to the fundraiser directly on the website.
The Essentials.TF fundraiser can be found on Matcherino's website.
The official Insomnia65 news & developments thread can be found here.