State of Noxide - February 2026

Greetings everyone! We’re moving into the second month of the new year, and while much of the DMV was frozen for the last few weeks, Noxide has been plowing ahead at full speed. We’ve got a lot of updates to share… but the most important is this: We’re pleased to announce that we are targeting mid-April for the grand opening of our first physical location!

Game Your Future - Smash Open

Before we get into our development this year, we have to remember the fun we had last fall. We were so excited to have the opportunity to host the Versus Zone at Game Your Future’s very first Baltimore Convention Center conference, and the excitement and skill on display all weekend just blew us away. Of course, the highlight for us was hosting our very first in person event: the Super Smash Brothers Open!

Even if though we only had one TV, everyone still came out to see the grand finals!

It was a blast to bring Noxide into the open and see the excitement live esports can bring to an event. After 13 electrifying matches we narrowed 14 entrants down to our very first champion, UMD’s very own Incineror: Mateo! Besides becoming an unforgettable part of Noxide history, he took home a choice bag of merch and a brand new pro controller. Congratulations Mateo!

We hope to see you all there again this fall, when Game Your Future introduces its dedicated esports track. Building off the success of 2025, we’ve got big plans for upping our game at GYF 2026. But before then we’ve got an arena to build!

NOXIDE COLUMBIA - OPENING SOON

Our first physical location in Columbia, Maryland is on the way. After over a year of hard work, we’re pleased to announce that an opening target has been set for Mid-April. There’s a lot we need to do to get ready, and with your support we’re confident that it’ll be an even bigger success than November’s tournament!

Located in the Gateway complex, only a stone’s throw from I-95, our first location will have a mix of consoles, high powered PCs, and, of course, a state of the art esports arena. Whether you’re a casual gamer looking to put in a few hours in the LAN center, a hardened competitor aiming for glory on the stage, or someone just starting out on their esports journey, we hope you’ll come see what Noxide has to offer.

A conceptual rendering of our LAN Center, placed in the actual space!

While we’re very excited to be targeting mid-April, we unfortunately can’t be any more specific than that right now. As soon as we have an exact date for our grand opening we’ll be sure to let you know, so remember to sign up for the newsletter and follow us on social media to be among the first to find out!

Competition and Community

But if you’d like to not just stay in the know but also get familiar with our growing community, we’re thrilled to invite you to our official Discord server. There you can hang out with fellow gamers and Noxide staff, as well as participate in a variety of fun events and challenges to get ready for opening day. We’ve got merch giveaways, game nights, online tournaments, and an exciting Power Up event planned leading into April; you won’t want to miss it!

Join here! noxide.gg/discord

That’s all we’ve got time for this month, but we’ll have so much more to share soon. We hope you’re staying safe and warm wherever you are, and we can’t wait to see you all in person when we open our doors in a few short months!

-Will