The best recent events and tournaments at Localhost

Nerd Street’s owned and operated gaming venues, known as Localhosts, are not only places where you can stop by to play your favorite games on high-quality gaming PCs and consoles. Localhosts also are the site of LAN tournaments, gaming community gatherings, private events, youth camps, brand activations and more. Every month, we’ll be spotlighting some of the best events that have happened at Localhost in Philadelphia, Rowan and Denver. Here’s a look back at some of the fun things that happened at Localhost over the past month.

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Serving Philly’s Youth at Localhost

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Localhost was a hub for scholastic activity last month. From field trips to competitions to the start of new partnerships, April was a pivotal month for Localhost’s burgeoning relationship with the city’s schools and their students.

Early in the month, Furness High School had a field trip to the venue that saw 30 students engage in free play, a venue and studio tour and a Q&A session where students got to ask Localhost staff about their experience and time in esports. Later in the month, Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School (KCAPA) and St. Joseph's Prep also visited Localhost for tours as well as gaming and some tournament play in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Fall Guys and Fortnite.

More high school tournament play took place at the Nerd Street Youth League (NSYL) LAN. Vaux Big Picture High School, Liguori Academy, Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School and Roman Catholic faced off in Fortnite for some spirited competition.

Localhost began a new partnership with Memphis Street Academy last month, which made the venue the official practice space for the school’s Rocket League team. Localhost also launched a partnership with the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND). Through this partnership, high school students from West Philadelphia will receive the opportunity to intern at Localhost and learn the ins and outs of the gaming and esports industry through an immersive project-based curriculum covering things like daily operations, event planning, programming execution, media services and technical maintenance.

One of the most unique events ever held at 401 N. Broad St. also took place last month. Localhost held its first ever youth fashion show by IVAT, a community organization dedicated to empowering and encouraging youth across the City of Philadelphia to express themselves under the umbrella of the creative and performing arts including dance, music, poetry and fashion design.

Minecraft Movie Madness

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Localhost Philly partnered with Warner Bros. to promote one of this year’s blockbuster movies, “A Minecraft Movie.” It was the perfect match because so many of the young gamers who visit Localhost love to play Minecraft. Families were invited to come and enjoy a day of block-based fun including in-game scavenger hunts and word searches to go along with plenty of Minecraft swag giveaways and some surprise passes to go see the movie in theaters!

Go For Broke Going Strong

The April edition of the Go For Broke fighting game monthly took place during the last weekend of the month. Attendees competed in Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Under-Night In Birth 2, Guilty Gear Strive and the newly released Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. In addition to the fighting game action, the second BeyBlade community tournament series took place as a tag-team 2v2 qualifier for the Tri-State Road to Domination Cup.

Return of the MACS

The spring season of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Series concluded in April with League of Legends and VALORANT competitions. Drexel beat Temple in the grand final of the five-team LoL tournament. Drexel and Temple both had multiple teams at the League tournament, and Alvernia also competed. Harrisburg University defeated Rowan to cap off the 14-team VALORANT competition. Both schools had multiple teams at the VALORANT tournament, which also included teams from Drexel, Temple, Rutgers, Alvernia, George Mason, the University of Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia Community College, with many of these schools sending both varsity and JV squads.

Dropping into the Mirage Cup

The biggest event last month at Localhost Denver was the Mirage Cup, a 15-team Alex Legends LAN. A team called Thuggets, featuring two Apex pros and one Localhost regular, outlasted the competition. A couple of collegiate teams performed well, with CU Boulder finishing second, and Colorado State placing in the top four.

CHSAA Championships

Photo credit: Nerd Street

The Colorado High School Activities Association was back in the building last month to crown champions for their spring seasons in esports. Highlands Ranch High School finished first in Mario Kart, while George Washington High School became the state champ in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Smoky Hill also won the first ever Unified Esports State Championship in Mario Kart.

CU Boulder Dominates RMCS

The spring edition of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Series took place last month at Localhost. CU Boulder asserted its dominance among local collegiate teams, sweeping the competition in Rocket League and Overwatch 2. CU Boulder beat Western Colorado University to complete a perfect run in the Overwatch competition, and the Buffaloes beat the University of Wyoming in the grand final of the Rocket League tournament.

Rowan Roundup

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Localhost Rowan saw a wide variety of events take place in April. The Woodbury High Invitational featured four South Jersey schools competing in Marvel Rivals, Minecraft, Smash and Mario Kart.

One of Localhost’s own interns held a Rowan Students Community Night which included Smash and Mario Kart tournaments. The top two winners in each tournament got free gameplay hours as well as tickets to MMRBQ, a rock music festival in Camden, New Jersey.

Toward the end of April, the South Jersey Beyblade Association (SJBBA) held an exciting Beyblade tournament that brought out 20 competitors and included some competition on stage and a full stream.

Lead photo credit: Nerd Street