After 33 years of publication, Game Informer magazine has been shut down effective immediately.
The long-running gaming magazine was closed by its parent company, GameStop, yesterday (03/08/2024). Kotaku originally reported on the closure, stating that all staff were called into a meeting with GameStop’s Vice President of HR, where they were informed that the publication was ceasing immediately, with all employees being laid off with severance.
Later, an official statement was posted to Game Informer’s X account, confirming the devastating news and farewelling readers past and present.
“After 33 thrilling years of bringing you the latest news, reviews, and insights from the ever-evolving world of gaming, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of Game Informer.
From the early days of pixelated adventures to today’s immersive virtual realms, we’ve been honoured to share this incredible journey with you, our loyal readers. While our presses may stop, the passion for gaming that we’ve cultivated together will continue to live on.
Thank you for being part of our epic quest, and may your own gaming adventures never end.”
The Final Level: Farewell from Game Informer 🕹️ pic.twitter.com/tmrEB2TE7U
— Game Informer (@gameinformer) August 2, 2024
The same statement now adorns the publication’s website, with any and all other content being completely pulled. Moving with the times, Game Informer posted news, reviews, opinion pieces, deep dives, interviews, podcasts and many other forms of content on its website, but those articles are now impossible to access.
In an effort to preserve Game Informer’s content, something that GameStop seems unwilling and uninterested in doing, independent gaming outlet MinnMax has stepped in, calling for people to join a preservation effort on its Discord channel. If you have the means and want to be a part of keeping that content alive, I suggest heading over and lending a hand.
There's a Game Informer archival project happening in MinnMax's Discord at the moment. Jump in if you feel like being helpful and preserving some history.
— MinnMax (@MinnMaxShow) August 2, 2024
It doesn’t feel like it, but we lost Game Informer Australia five years ago this April. As painful as it is to admit, print media has been dying/dead in many parts of the world for years, but it doesn’t make these losses any easier to digest.
On a personal note, my very first piece of written work in the gaming industry was a letter to the editor in Game Informer Australia magazine. If I hadn’t seen those few hundred words printed on paper, I wouldn’t have pursued my passion, and I wouldn’t be writing this article today. I still miss Game Informer Aus, having been a subscriber up until its dying day, so this news is shattering.
I hate to focus on the doom and gloom of this industry that I, and everyone here at WellPlayed, love so much, but it’s sick on a foundational level. I’ve lost count of the number of news pieces I’ve written about studio closures, layoffs, project cancellations, and shitty practices, and those headlines aren’t slowing down.
Physical media in all forms is looking down the barrel, but games media in all forms is gasping for air. Just recently, we saw the closure of Kotaku Australia, marking the loss of a major voice in the dwindling Australian games media landscape. We’ve already seen the industry crumble, but I don’t want to see this downward trend continue.
Publications are turning to platforms like Patreon to keep the lights on in these uncertain times, with some finding success. The last thing I want to do is preach at you or get on my hands and knees, but please, if you want to see your favourite outlets survive, there’s only one way to make that happen: support them. I’m not telling you to spend your precious coins on every channel and site you engage with in these tumultuous financial times, but spend the minutes to read an article, engage with a platform, leave a comment, like posts, share your favourite writer/content creator’s work, and support the work that they produce.
I know I’m standing on a soap box, yelling about a magazine that we can’t even buy in Australia, but the closure of Game Informer has affected me more than I expected it to, and it’s made me take a proper look at the industry that I’m so thankful to be a part of.
Support the things you love.
