FortLAN Fall 2026: Celebrating 10 Years at the Grand Wayne Center

FortLAN returned to the Grand Wayne Center October 16–18 for another weekend of gaming, tournaments, and community activities! This fall also marked 10 years of hosting FortLAN events at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne.

Our 280-seat BYOC LAN brought gamers together for three days of PC gaming, tournaments, community games, raffles, and charity fundraising. We also welcomed more of the public this year with free gaming activities, live esports competitions, and additional tabletop gaming and vendors.

Tournaments, Community Games, and More

We had a packed schedule this fall with tournaments, community games, and some of our favorite off-screen competitions running throughout the weekend.

Our tournaments included:

  • Overwatch 2

  • Rocket League

  • Halo Infinite

  • Counter-Strike 2

  • THE FINALS

  • Minecraft Deathmatch

Community gaming sessions included:

  • Enshrouded

  • Team Fortress 2

  • Quake Live

  • Valheim

  • Wardogs

  • Overwatch 2

  • Battlefield 6

  • Golf With Your Friends

  • Half-Life Deathmatch

  • Left 4 Dead 2

  • Fall Guys

We also brought back some FortLAN favorites, including Mouse Toss, Rock Paper Scissors, and Hard Drive Stack, along with our raffles and other activities throughout the weekend.

Outside of our scheduled games, attendees spent plenty of time gaming with friends and jumping into their own multiplayer sessions across the BYOC area.

We also welcomed Odyssey Esports for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Super Smash Bros. Melee competitions, giving players another opportunity to compete and visitors a chance to watch live esports.

Right next door, Sentinel War Gaming hosted an event featuring Warhammer, tabletop gaming, and vendors for attendees to explore. We also offered free PC gaming for visitors, giving more people a chance to check out FortLAN without purchasing a BYOC seat.

Playing with a Purpose

We continued supporting LANFest’s Play with a Purpose fundraising campaign through our charity raffle this fall.

We tried a different raffle format this time, allowing attendees to donate and choose which prize drawings they wanted to enter. We also hosted our traditional general raffle, featuring gaming hardware, peripherals, and other prizes provided by our sponsors.

Thanks to everyone who contributed, we raised $1,235 for LANFest!

A big thank you to everyone who donated and to our sponsors who helped make the raffles possible.

Bringing More Youth Into Gaming

With support from the City of Fort Wayne, we also expanded our youth programming this fall, working with local organizations to bring students ages 14–18 into the event.

Our goal was to give more local students the opportunity to experience a LAN, meet other gamers, and learn more about gaming, technology, online safety, and positive community involvement.

This was a new addition to FortLAN, and we’re hoping to continue working with schools and local organizations to offer more opportunities like this at future events.

10 Years at the Grand Wayne Center

FortLAN has been bringing gamers together in Fort Wayne since 2012, and this fall marked 10 years of hosting our events at the Grand Wayne Center.

Over the years, we’ve welcomed new attendees, made plenty of friends, and watched FortLAN grow to include more than just PC gaming. We’re thankful to have a venue in downtown Fort Wayne that has allowed us to continue hosting these events and growing our community.

We want to give a big thank you to the Grand Wayne Center, our volunteers, tournament organizers, sponsors, partners, and everyone who came out this fall. We couldn’t make these events happen without all of you!

FortLAN Returns April 16–18, 2027!

We’re already getting ready for our next event! FortLAN Spring 2027 returns to the Grand Wayne Center April 16–18.

This spring, we’re switching things up with a smaller, 96-seat BYOC LAN focused on community gaming, tournaments, raffles, and hanging out with friends.

Tickets are available now! Grab your seat for FortLAN Spring 2027!

Follow FortLAN on LANFest for more event information and announcements. See you in April!

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