INFINITEQUE

INTRODUCING NEXUS GAMING LEAGUE

Competition.
Technology.
Community.

This summer, Empowering the Culture will introduce the public to NEXUS Gaming League, a community-centered competitive gaming experience designed to bring people together through play, skill development, and Games Culture.

NEXUS Gaming League is more than a tournament.

It's a space where players can challenge themselves, connect with others, and experience competition as part of a larger culture built on community, creativity, and shared experiences.

Throughout Empowering the Culture, attendees will have the opportunity to compete in four featured titles:

🎮 Week 1 — Street Fighter 6
📅 July 8

🎮 Week 2 — TEKKEN 8
📅 July 15

🎮 Week 3 — Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
📅 July 22

🎮 Week 4 — 2XKO
📅 July 29

All tournaments take place from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Atlas Cinemas at Shaker Square as part of Empowering the Culture.

🏅 Medals awarded to top competitors
🎟️ Free event registration
🤝 Community-centered competition
🎮 Open to both experienced and emerging players

Tournament operations are led by Cleveland fighting game community veteran John "Wingedzero" Tate, II, who is helping to ensure a welcoming, organized, technically sound, and professionally run experience for all participants.

Whether you're a longtime competitor, a casual player, or someone looking to experience Games Culture in a new way, NEXUS Gaming League is designed to create opportunities for connection, growth, and community through play.

Learn more and register:
www.infiniteque.com/etc-2026

MEET THE TEAM

Today we're introducing Melanie Gloerfelt Townsend, People & Culture Lead for Empowering the Culture.

Melanie is a communications strategist, organizer, and Games Culture advocate whose work helps ensure that people remain at the center of the experience.

As People & Culture Lead, she supports workforce development, marketing, internal communication, volunteer coordination, recruitment, and community engagement efforts across Empowering the Culture.

One of the most important questions behind any community experience is simple:

How do people feel when they arrive?

Throughout the planning and development of Empowering the Culture, Melanie has helped ensure that attendees, volunteers, speakers, partners, and team members all feel welcomed, connected, and valued.

What makes Melanie's perspective especially unique is her journey into Games Culture itself.

A self-described "no-screen parent turned Games Culture believer," she brings a grounded perspective on how play, gaming communities, and shared experiences can strengthen civic engagement, empathy, learning, and human connection.

Her work alongside Robert Gatewood and the Games Culture Association has helped explore how Games Culture can be used as a tool for education, community building, and meaningful public engagement.

Because while Games Culture may begin with games, it ultimately becomes something much larger.

It's about people.
The friendships we build.
The communities we join.
The experiences we share.
And the spaces where those connections can happen.

Community doesn't happen by accident.

It happens when people intentionally create space for others to belong.

That commitment is reflected throughout Melanie's work and leadership, and we're grateful to have her helping shape Empowering the Culture.

Join us July 8–August 12 for a six-week Games Culture Experience.

Learn more:
www.infiniteque.com/etc-2026

Registration is free:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1989777733765

MEET THE TEAM

For those familiar with Cleveland's Games Culture community and INFINITEQUE's work over the years, it probably comes as no surprise that a tournament is part of Empowering the Culture.

Today we're excited to introduce John Tate, II / "Wingedzero," Tournament Organizer for the NEXUS Gaming League activation at Empowering the Culture.

John is one of Cleveland's most accomplished competitive gamers and a longtime member of the local Fighting Game Community. As a competitor, community leader, livestreamer, and technology professional, he brings a unique combination of tournament operations expertise, technical knowledge, and community leadership to the experience.

Throughout Empowering the Culture, John will help lead the NEXUS Gaming League tournament experience, creating opportunities for players to compete, connect, and engage with Games Culture in meaningful ways.

But his role extends beyond simply running a tournament.

One of the guiding ideas behind NEXUS Gaming League is that competition, technology, and community all belong together.

Competition challenges us to grow.

Technology creates new opportunities to learn and connect.

Community gives those experiences meaning.

John's work throughout Cleveland's gaming community reflects that philosophy, helping create spaces where players can challenge themselves, build relationships, develop skills, and experience Games Culture at its best.

This summer, he'll help ensure that NEXUS Gaming League reflects the same values that guide Empowering the Culture: connection, creativity, mentorship, community, and play.

Join us July 8–August 12 for a six-week Games Culture Experience.

Learn more:
www.infiniteque.com/etc-2026

Registration is free:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1989777733765