Company Culture

Nathan Solomon on why coworking and video games (probably) don’t mix

Following the closure of the Philly Game Forge, the founder of the nonprofit Philadelphia Game Lab took to his blog.

Gamers at the now-extinct Philly Game Forge. (Photo by Roberto Torres)

After the Philly Game Forge announced it was calling it quits, Philadelphia Game Lab’s Nathan Solomon took to his personal blog to reflect on his decision to not to open a shared work space for game developers.
“I would go so far as to say that it is impossible at this point to create a shared space in games in Philadelphia that would reliably benefit developers enough as to allow them to both pay $300 [in membership] and earn a living,” Solomon writes.
The relatively small size of the community, the tough process of finding an appropriate site and the lack of financial support from the city, argues Solomon, conspired against the creation of a physical space for game devs.
Read the full post
Solomon also opens up about another factor of the equation: his struggle with a slow-moving form of lung cancer diagnosed in 2013.
“For a bunch of that time, I didn’t think I was likely to live to see much of the next year,” Solomon wrote. “I did, and am fine now, but it added to the stress of what had to be a January 2014 opening for Philadelphia Game Labs.”

Companies: Philadelphia Game Lab

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

Our services Preferred partners The journalism fund
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Expect even more drones over NJ, Delaware and PA this year — thanks to agriculture, the military and hobbyists

Federal agency selects Philadelphia for $12M award to support digital equity 

Trump revokes Biden’s AI order, but safety consortium won’t yet dissolve 

Turnpike toll upgrades could shrink Pennsylvania’s broadband deserts

Technically Media