Print May Be Dead, But Its Legacy Lives On: Remembering Game Informer

For the past several days, I’ve wondered how to approach the dismantling of Game Informer magazine, as well as its website and social media presence, by GameStop management. After 33 years of publishing, the entire editorial and design team was laid off on Friday, August 2, and the website was gutted and turned into a single landing page. While the demise of yet another pillar of print publications in the video game space is not unexpected news in this era of the internet, I’d still like to take a look back at Game Informer’s history, what it means to me, and how much it meant to the industry at large.

Game Informer began publication in 1991, under the auspices of video game retail outlet Funco, Inc. (also known as FuncoLand), with a rather simple cover featuring Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Thus began the magazine’s extensive legacy of industry-leading cover stories, which has continued to the latest—now known to be its final—issue. Featuring a deep dive into the development of Bioware’s Dragon Age: Veilguard, the editors at GI continued the tradition of providing readers with in-depth information and a peek at the game’s development progress, often exclusively and with unparalleled access to industry luminaries.

Over the decades in which the magazine saw print, Game Informer covered such marquee franchises as Super Mario Bros., Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, NBA Jam, Batman, and many more. Every issue featured an exclusive cover story, along with news, feature articles, previews, reviews, and retrospectives, with the April issues also containing a parody insert called Game Infarcer, one of my personal favorite aspects of the magazine.

In 2000, nine years after its first issue was printed, FuncoLand was sold to GameStop, and thus began a new era in the publication’s existence. Redesigns and editorial turnover followed in the years since, but the magazine persevered while others were acquired and shut down. Many renowned institutions, such as Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Game Players, GameFan, Nintendo Power, and Next Generation, had long since been dismantled, and even more websites had followed as the internet bubble burst. In North America, fans of the industry were faced with far fewer choices in the gaming news space, and experienced editors and writers were left without jobs and sources of income. Still, Game Informer was the true last bastion of gaming media in the US, and for that, I was eternally grateful.

Sadly, even GI could do little to prevent layoffs when its parent company was faced with a financial downturn. Though the meme stock buyouts did prevent GameStop’s fall temporarily, cost-cutting measures were already being utilized, and Game Informer’s staff was suddenly reduced by half in late August, 2019. Public outcry ensued, mostly (thankfully!) in support of the team members who’d lost their jobs, some of whom went on to found other outlets, such as MinnMax. I deeply hope that those who lost their jobs back then went on to find other lucrative work, and I implore those who haven’t to keep on going, and to never give up. That goes for those who continued to work at the publication up to this point in time. I sincerely wish that they find work, as well, and that they are able to find even greater success in the future.

On a more personal note, this is a tough piece for me to write. Over the years, I’ve seen many magazines and websites disappear, and so many unique perspectives silenced. I’ve seen sites I trust transform into unrecognizable husks of their former selves after being swallowed up by huge mega-corporations who only care about SEO and page views rather than quality writing and journalistic integrity. I’ve seen independent voices twisted into shills for media conglomerates who are afraid to take a stand because they may lose clout or access or, even more pointedly, ad revenue.

I’ve seen late stage capitalism run amok, and I hate it. I hate living in a world where a development studio’s CEO goes on a spending spree buying cars and showing them off to employees who have or will lose their jobs as he receives a giant bonus year over year. I hate seeing the richest people in this world flaunt their wealth over the poor masses who struggle to put decent food on their tables day after day. I hate seeing corporate management shut down a video game magazine with a meaningless written note on a hastily cobbled-together landing page, rendering its entire companion website utterly inaccessible just to save on site hosting fees, while their CEO is being investigated for alleged insider trading.

Most of all, I feel for the people who poured their hearts and souls into a publication which lasted so long that it became an industry institution, only to be wiped away in a single day. All of their hard work is gone, as if it had never existed, and that, my fellow Renegades, makes me angry.

However, I do want to end on a more positive note, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’ll always remember Game Informer’s superb cover stories, E3 coverage, and gorgeous cover art for as long as I live. I shall forever be grateful to those who worked on the magazine for the hours of entertainment, perspectives, humor, and information they provided to us over the years. And I’ll always send them positive thoughts and encouragement as they search for work.

The second-to-last tweet posted to Game Informer’s account before it, too, was taken offline.

Final letter from the Editor in Chief, originally shared by MinnMax.

Finally, my wish is that, in some small way, we here at RPC can continue to carry on the legacy of Game Informer and the other publications who have come and gone. Their legacy lives on, and I hope we see more independent voices rise to the occasion in the future. Thank you, Game Informer, and a sincere thank you to everyone who worked on the magazine.

---

---