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Drexel professors and IGDA warn of 'brain drain' in Philadelphia's game industry
Summary
Faculty from Drexel University and representatives of the International Game Developers Association told City Council that many graduates leave the city for jobs elsewhere and asked for city support to create more local paid opportunities, contract pipelines and arts‑funding access for game projects.
Faculty from Drexel University and the Philadelphia chapter of the International Game Developers Association told a City Council hearing on Jan. 22 that the city’s colleges are producing talent but local industry capacity is insufficient to absorb graduates.
“Over half of them leave the state of Pennsylvania upon graduation and you heard the and the report has the larger number of 60% leave the city of Philadelphia,” Rob Lloyd, a Drexel professor and program director for Drexel’s Game Design and Production program, told the committee. Lloyd said Drexel’s game program currently enrolls about 200 majors and will graduate roughly 40 game majors this year; he described a long history of student teams producing commercial titles but noted only a small fraction of student‑launched studios survive past graduation.
Adrian Sandoval, adjunct professor at Drexel and chair of the Philadelphia chapter of the International Game Developers Association, said the community lacks visibility and sustainable funding. “A lot of promising studios with successful first time game launches [have] to close their doors a couple of years later,” Sandoval said. He and Lloyd urged the council to open arts‑funding channels to game projects, build more local contract relationships to keep studios working between original titles, and invest in awareness initiatives so Philadelphia is better represented at industry events.
Both witnesses pointed to existing local education and incubator capacity — Drexel’s on‑campus entrepreneurial game studio has helped launch student teams — but said sustained city support, grants and stronger business‑to‑business pipelines are needed to convert training into long‑term local jobs.
Councilmembers asked about entry‑level roles, pay ranges and how students progress into higher‑paid positions; Lloyd described a wide pay range for entry positions, from quality‑assurance roles at roughly the mid‑$20,000s up to junior programmers who can earn $80,000–$100,000 depending on skill and language fluency. Witnesses also flagged visa constraints affecting international students and urged targeted supports.
