The big picture: Print magazines covering gaming have suffered a long, slow death since the emergence of online media. One publication maintained wide circulation as its contemporaries fell all around it. Game Informer, the longest-running US gaming magazine, has shut down Unfortunately, the magazine couldn’t escape its parent company’s growing financial struggles.
Game Informer magazine announced its closure on Friday after 33 years of publication. Typically sold with parent company GameStop’s customer reward memberships, it was the longest-running print gaming magazine in the US and briefly the most widely circulated.
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The Game Informer website now only displays a simple splash screen with a farewell message. Issue 367, featuring a cover story on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, will be its last.
The magazine’s termination came on short notice, as GameStop laid off the publication’s entire staff on Friday morning. Video Producer Alex Van Aken said some members didn’t realize they’d been let go until the official announcement on Twitter. The website’s sudden closure also complicates efforts to archive its content. The Wayback Machine and subscribers’ collections might become the only way to preserve the magazine’s thousands of articles.
Many reacted angrily to the news, including some who suspected GameStop of using generative AI to write the departing message. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier prompted ChatGPT to write a farewell for GameStop, with results worryingly similar to what now appears on the website.
Game Informer began circulation in 1991 under FuncoLand but took off after GameStop acquired it in 2000. By 2012, it had peaked with a circulation of 8 million copies, making it the 3rd biggest print magazine in the US. Game Informer was chiefly known for expansive cover stories on major upcoming releases. Game Informer, the longest-running US gaming magazine, has shut down
GameStop likely closed the magazine to help stem the financial bleeding it has suffered in recent years amid the decline of retail game sales in favor of digital downloads. The company has repeatedly laid off staff (including Game Informer employees) and taken other cost-cutting measures.
A meme stock rally in early 2021 rocketed GameStop’s share price to historic highs, but the effect has mostly worn off. The stock dipped slightly in response to Game Informer’s closure but quickly recovered and remains relatively stable.
Game Informer’s termination adds to a growing list of defunct gaming print media giants, including Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nintendo Power, Official PlayStation Magazine, GamePro, and many others. Edge Magazine, PC Gamer, and Famitsu remain as industry mainstays.
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