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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TF2 Takeover in Denver

One of the biggest Team Fortress 2 LAN tournaments in years took place at Localhost Denver last month. TF2 is 18 years old, but big international LAN tournaments have been few and far between, with the last S-Tier tournament having taken place in 2022, according to Liquipedia. The last S-Tier tournament in North America took place in 2018 in Santa Ana, California. A team from Europe and one from Australia joined North American teams to round out the field of eight for Physgun Fireside Denver 2025.

The most notable North American team in attendance was froyotech, led by legendary TF2 player Grant “b4nny” Vincent. Froyotech had won the aforementioned 2022 and 2018 LANs. However, froyotech got upset at Physgun Fireside by Australian team Witness Gaming in the playoffs, underscoring how tough the competition was in Denver. In fact, one fan in attendance called the tournament “the toughest competition in TF2 history,” according to PC Gamer. The tough competition ended with European team Witness Gaming beating North American team Like A G6 in the final to win the lion’s share of the $7,000+ prize pot.

Other Happenings at Localhost Denver

Denver Public Schools was in the building last month for their spring tournament which featured over 150 students competing in Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart. Lakewood League was also back for the ninth edition of their exciting League of Legends tournament. A team of CU Boulder alumni came out on top in the eight-team tournament.

Go For Broke in Philly

Last month saw another edition of Go For Broke, featuring Broad Street Blur and the Beyblade Road to Domination tour. With over 100 competitors across seven games in the lineup, there was a lot of spirited competition, and it was a great warm-up for players from the area who made their way out to Combo Breaker the following weekend.

Focus on Tech

Early in May, Localhost partnered with Philly Tech Week again to host the 2025 Community Day of Play! CodeOgres, CreateAccess/Launchpad Philly and Philly Game Mechanics were all on site with demos of recent projects, indie games and student games to showcase to visitors throughout the day! Staff also gave studio tours and a quick overview of the PCR and LED board for those interested in production and live broadcasting.

A new series of community meetups kicked off late in the month, with Code and Coffee Philly finding a new home at Localhost on Sunday afternoons. Following his visit to Localhost during Philly Tech Week, local engineer/programmer Tony Siu connected with the Localhost team because he was looking for a new spot to host meetups to accommodate the group’s fast growth. At Code and Coffee, people can bring their laptops to work on current projects as well as get assistance and workshop with other members and collaborate on all things tech and programming in a relaxed and cooperative environment. C&C supports people in a wide range of tech sectors, including fintech, machine learning, game design and development and companion apps for existing games and social networks.

Madden Meetup

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Toward the end of the month, Localhost welcomed the KB Foundation and their students to Localhost. Following a class trip to EA Orlando (previously EA Tiburon), students got the opportunity to see how the Madden NFL franchise is developed and built, along with learning just how many roles go into making a game. Students learned about strategic planning, 3D modeling, photography and art direction, programming, animations and sound design, and even executive direction and production. Back at Localhost, students not only got to have a Q&A session with a senior developer/design lead at EA Orlando but also got the chance to talk some smack and settle it on the sticks in their own Madden NFL 25 showdowns.

Localhost in the City

Localhost staff kicked off the month with an off-site rental in partnership with the Cxmmunity Foundation. Localhost provided PS5s, monitors and gaming chairs for Cxmmunity’s "CF: The Blacktops" Youth NBA 2K tournament on May 3.

To close out May, Localhost had a table at "The Future Is Fly" Fashion x Tech cocktail mixer, a social networking event designed to bring creatives from the fashion and technology industries together. Headed by Creative Director Devon Milan, the evening featured console gaming and giveaways for free gaming passes powered by Localhost Philly with our own Kyle and Ish representing Localhost at Sandbox VR in Center City.

Lead photo credit: Nerd Street