In a shocking bit of news this morning, GameStop announced that it will shut down Game Informer, its in-store games magazine, after 33 years. The decision seems to be a snap judgment by CEO and all-around imbecile Ryan Cohen, who is currently being sued for $47 for insider trading by Bed, Bath, and Beyond parent company Overstock.com. The final issue of the magazine will be number 367, which features Dragon Age: The Veilguard on its cover.
The Final Level: Farewell from Game Informer 🕹️ pic.twitter.com/tmrEB2TE7U
— Game Informer (@gameinformer) August 2, 2024
According to a report from Kotaku, staff at GI were called into a meeting this morning with GameStop’s VP of HR. In that meeting, they were all told the publication would be closed effective immediately and that everyone was being laid off. At least as some consolation, the staff will receive severance, but that doesn’t help much when their livelihoods are now in jeopardy.
The official Game Informer Twitter account posted a farewell message, though Kotaku’s sources claim that it was not written by anyone on the GI team. Former employees have taken to social media to voice their frustrations, especially with CEO Ryan Cohen. For such a long-running magazine to be closed without any forewarning is awful.
Anyone in games media likely has some kind of story about the first time they read a copy of Game Informer, so it’s incredibly troubling to see it slashed without a second thought by GameStop. With layoffs abound and even developers struggling to stay afloat, we’re truly on the cusp of another video game industry crash. Hopefully, something changes sooner so that talented individuals like the people at Game Informer can continue to provide honest and genuine coverage of games for everyone to enjoy.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
