For some time, the mantra for Philadelphia’s economy has been (say it with me) eds, meds, and beds. But another, unexpected, industry is trying to grow into one of our economic pillars: gaming.
In 2023, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and Nicodemus Madehdou, co-founder and CEO of JumpButton Studio, organized the first PHL Gaming expo, bringing together local game designers, faculty representing design and computer science programs, career development organizations and gamers, for demonstrations, panels, and networking.
Recognizing an opportunity, Thomas and Madehdou spearheaded the formation of the Gaming Task Force in 2024 to take stock of Philadelphia’s gaming industry, identify where the holes are, and develop a plan for growing the sector. The end goal, Thomas says, is “to make sure that people recognize Philadelphia as a hub for gaming.”
Madehdou chairs the task force of faculty from Drexel and St. Joseph’s universities, executives and founders of local tech and gaming companies Previously Pluto, Philly Game Mechanics, 1Philadelphia, Toonamaste, Level Up Philly, and PHL Collective, and the Philadelphia President of the International Game Developers Association. All task force members are volunteers.
The task force held town halls throughout 2024, interviewed industry experts across the continent on the challenges and best practices that have shaped other gaming markets, and utilized the second PHL Gaming expo that September for new ideas. By December, they had a comprehensive report highlighting the state of the industry in Philadelphia and the roadmap to establishing Philly as a hub for gaming, which they presented to City Council in January 2025.
“I want Philadelphia to be known as a gaming city,” says Thomas. “I’m a strong advocate for the creative economy, and I would like for us to be able in Philadelphia to look at gaming the same way.”
This week, the task force hosts its biggest event of the year: the fourth PHL Gaming expo, happening October 24 at CYTO PHL in the Cira Centre, part of this year’s Innovation Weekend, October 21 through 24. The expo has attracted hundreds more attendees each year; they’re hoping to see over 1,000 people on Saturday.
The global gaming industry
Global video gaming revenue reached $197 billion in 2025. Of the world’s nearly 3.5 billion gamers, 215 million of them are in the United States. It’s important to recognize that the term “video game” here includes mobile games and casual games, so whether you’re playing Royal Kingdom or Halo, you’re included in these numbers. Gamers have nearly achieved gender parity; women account for 46 percent. The industry is still growing, as more people get internet access, smartphones, and more devices with a lower bar for entry than a Playstation ($500) or XBox (also $500, depending on the model). It also accounts for 250,000 jobs in the U.S.
Research both inside and outside the industry positions gaming as “the STEM pipeline we’re overlooking.” There is a direct connection from young people gaming to excelling in technology and problem solving.
“There’s a lot about Philadelphia that makes it a really excellent place to start a company. It’s a very small, big city.” — Ian Andolsek
I know what many of you are thinking. Why this industry? Is there real potential growth here for Philadelphia, or are we just looking at any industry and trying to insert that peg into our Philly-shaped hole in the hopes it will complete our economic puzzle?
The reality is, Philadelphia is well positioned to make gains in gaming. Drexel and Moore College of Art & Design have world-renowned technical and design programs, alongside historic art institutions and support communities. Our history of tech innovation goes all the way back to ENIAC. We’re also home to Comcast. We have an existing (and thriving) ecosystem of gaming enthusiasts and studios.
If you or your kids have played DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos or Patrick Star, you already know what Philly’s gaming industry can deliver.
Nick Madonna is the founder of PHL Collective, who produced those blockbuster games, and co-chair of the PHL Gaming Task Force. Madonna grew up in South Philly, and couldn’t find a job in the game industry after college. He worked on game development in Los Angeles, New Jersey, even Russia, before coming home to start his own studio. “I want to provide an opportunity to people or students that I didn’t have when I started,” Madonna says. “And for the last 13 years we’ve been building games with local talent.”
And yet, just 46 percent of graduates of Drexel University’s game design and production program remain in Pennsylvania, and only 40 percent remain in Philadelphia.
A tale of two game developers
Ian Andolsek is co-founder and president at Integrated Reality Labs (IRL), a game developer founded in Philadelphia in 2023 with Lauren Steidl, CEO. IRL would capitalize on the rise of “off the couch gaming” — think Pokémon Go, where mobile technology literally takes players outside. IRL went further, creating a gaming experience inherently social that also involves people coming together in real life. This was the basis for Slap, an app where players can organize and record games of tag, manhunt, and hide-and-seek with friends.
“It’s driven by your proximity, the way you connect with people in the real world, and we can build lots of interesting game mechanics around that,” explains Steidl. “The visual piece comes in when players get physically close to you, the phone automatically starts recording the interaction. It’s very funny and memorable, and it gets shared on social media with other friends, etc.”
“People have tried to build this app previously several times,” says Andolsek. “There are a lot of dead bodies in the multiplayer real-world gaming graveyard, but they all basically fell due to technical reasons, either because the devices that were around at that point really weren’t up to the task, and networks have just gotten better. We got lucky the timing was right to be able to build this.”
In 2025, IRL launched the beta version of Slap to great success … shortly after IRL moved their headquarters from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine.
OK let’s back up. Andolsek and Steidl say they both “really, really like Philly.” Philadelphia was the source of most of their starting capital; it’s where they found the bulk of their talent. Even now, 40 percent of their team are still Philadelphians.
“I want Philadelphia to be known as a gaming city. I’m a strong advocate for the creative economy, and I would like for us to be able in Philadelphia to look at gaming the same way.” — Councilman Isaiah Thomas.
“There are several professional groups, PACT being one of them, and Broad Street Angels, Robin Hood, etc, where the members come from very diverse and interesting backgrounds, and they have a tremendous amount of offer in terms of teaching young entrepreneurs,” Andolsek says. “There’s a lot about Philadelphia that makes it a really excellent place to start a company. It’s a very small, big city.”
So why leave? Well, Northeastern University built the Roux Institute in Portland, a large-scale, state-of-the-art facility that houses professional degree programs in tech and industry related fields plus entrepreneurship oriented programming and a founder residency. If Philly had something like that, would small tech companies like IRL stay here and grow?
“That would be awesome,” says Steidl.
Let’s come back to JumpButton Studio. When we last checked in with Madehdou and company, the game development and animation studio founded in 2015, they were headlining the second PHL Gaming Expo. They had a few projects in the pipeline, two of which have been officially released: Realize Magazine is also in the off-the-couch social gaming genre, where you and your friends role play as magazine publishers choosing the best photos for your next edition. And in February of this year, they released Under The Red Sky, a 3D platformer available on Steam (and super fun to play).
JumpButton is deeply invested in Philly and focused on growing the studio and employing potentially hundreds of talented programmers and artists. They recently completed a funding round and have turned that capital toward local impact and their next set of projects.
“We definitely have learned a lot, formed new partnerships — and the village,” says Madehdou. “The one thing I am continually proud to see is the growing interest in groups locally that truly see how Philadelphia can spark a career in games in a way that has never been seen before.”
So what did the gaming report say?
What we’re missing, the report says, is tech infrastructure that can support multiple large companies, a support system for small businesses to scale up, and more pathways for youth interested in technology, coding, gaming, and design to enter those prestigious universities and succeed in the industry. The report proposed a number of solutions.
Direct support for gaming companies include ideas like tax credits at the City and state levels and expanding criteria for arts and culture grants to include digital arts.
“One of the biggest things we’ve heard from people in the developer space is not only do they need seed funding, but they also need help with physical infrastructure, space for servers, securing office space that’s convenient, and electrical and power needs,” said Ben Wilcox, deputy director of communications for Thomas. The task force is working on recommendations for zoning and potential legislation to establish that infrastructure.
“I want to provide an opportunity to people or students that I didn’t have when I started. And for the last 13 years we’ve been building games with local talent.” — Nick Madonna
Non-legislative ideas include opportunities for entrepreneurial training, legal services, and copyright training for gaming developers and small tech, more co-working spaces, leveraging E-Sports as a growing youth career path, working with colleges and universities on developing student internships, and increasing funding for computer literacy and technology exposure in public schools.
The task force has been busy. They successfully advocated in Harrisburg to preserve a state video game production tax credit that was going to be eliminated from a TV and film initiative, and continue to lobby for tax policies that would support gaming companies’ growth.
“It has been ongoing work, and this year, we’re excited about the coordination with Advocacy Day in Harrisburg and put us in a position to really try to take even bigger steps forward this year to help promote Philadelphia as a gaming city,” says Thomas.
What does success look like?
Moving forward, the task force members are taking feedback on what the industry needs, and working out what’s fiscally responsible. There is a lot of consulting, planning, and advocating to be done. In addition to the flagship PHL Gaming conference, there are smaller events throughout the year like Game Jams with Philly Game Mechanics. They’re also working to improve their social media presence.
In the short term, the task force is building momentum and visibility, taking steps that have a meaningful impact on game developers in Philadelphia. In the long term, the team wants to see sustainable outcomes. Tax policies, grants, and infrastructure have to be in place into the future.
The City backed investments and grants will, in the long-term Madehdou hopes, bring in over $15 million in revenue from the gaming industry. “Those foundations, we believe, will enable us to maintain our games talent here locally, enable us to empower and educate future talents here locally, without losing them.”
“The industry and what we’re doing is not supposed to be owned just by a couple of little people,” says Madonna. “This is supposed to be city wide where everyone benefits from it.”
GAMING IN PHILLY
