The usual Philly Devnight crowd gathered last night at 239 Chestnut St. for one last Thursday meetup at the Philly Game Forge.
There was music, there was gaming, there were even impromptu dance-offs:
One last dance off before @PhillyGameForge wraps up. pic.twitter.com/qJvtq43eRy
— Technical.ly Philly (@TechnicallyPHL) July 1, 2016
Dain Saint, cofounder of the Philly Game Forge took to the guitar to deliver his rendition of the Ginuwine’s “My Pony,” thought to be the unofficial anthem of the Forge.
When @cipherprime's @dainsaint sang @PhillyGameForge's anthem last night, craziness ensued. pic.twitter.com/KBgv4qD0Zy
— Technical.ly Philly (@TechnicallyPHL) July 1, 2016
“You have all enriched my life in many ways,” said a visibly-moved Will Stallwood, cofounder of the coworking space for game developers, as he took the mic to thank the crowd of over 100.
Stallwood and Saint founded the coworking space in 2013, as a way to cut costs for Philly video game developers. The business model, however, proved unviable according to Stallwood, and the space announced its closing on June 14.
But they couldn’t call it quits without having one last shindig before the lease was up, which featured deathmatch-style games of revived Sega Genesis games.
’90s kids bringin’ Sega back. (Photo by Giselle Dávila)
It wasn’t all fun and games, though. The wrap-up for the makerspace that was the home of over 14 companies also brought out plenty of emotions, as the meetup, founded in 2012, must now find a new place to gather on Thursday nights.
A Philly Game Forge poster was set up for regulars and visitors to say farewell.
Farewell, Forge. (Photo by Giselle Dávila)
As far as what’s coming next, Devnight organizers launched a Patreon account in the hopes of racking up donations as they work to find a new site for the meetup.
Thank you for making the last night at @PhillyGameForge one for the ages. As for Dev Night…to be continued…? pic.twitter.com/gXShjdD64V
— PhillyDevNight (@PhillyDevNight) July 1, 2016