Game Informer shut down by GameStop, and all staff laid off

One of the longest-running institutions in games media is shutting its doors today. News broke this morning that parent company GameStop is closing Game Informer, after over three decades of magazines and online content.

This morning, GI staff were informed of the decision by GameStop corporate. The entire editorial effort has been folded, as both the magazine is shutting down and all staff have been laid off. Per former magazine content director Kyle Hilliard, the next issue was “about 70% done” and was going to have a “GREAT [sic] cover.”

In a broad statement posted to the Game Informer social channels, the company confirms the closure. “While our presses may stop, the passion for gaming that we’ve cultivated together will continue to live on.” Writers from the site have been sharing the news on their social channels as well.

Game Informer debuted in 1991 as a short magazine from now-shuttered video game retailer FuncoLand, as an in-house newsletter. In 2000, GameStop bought FuncoLand and thus took over the publication of Game Informer, which quickly became a major facet of its loyalty program.

Three decades of games coverage

At this point, I editorially need to disclose that I have appeared on several Game Informer streams and podcasts, and am also friends with several writers now laid off by GameStop. Aside from good practice, it’s important to highlight because for many, many people, Game Informer was an institution of games media.

In 2010, Game Informer ranked as the 5th largest magazine in the United States, beating out the likes of Time and Sports Illustrated. Over the years, the outlet would continue to weather storm after storm; the general down-turn in print journalism, the shift to online, and numerous cuts from its parent company. Those cuts were made amid a push for NFTs and blockchain, as GameStop itself seemed to try and ride out its meme-stock status through the waves of retail store chaos.

All the while, legendary names and incredible covers still rolled out. Just recently, the GI staff attempted to resuscitate its print magazine efforts, re-launching a subscription service.

To describe Game Informer as an institution could feel hyperbolic, but honestly, that’s what it always was. For some, myself included, it was the first glimpse of writing about games; an entire cover-to-cover magazine filled with previews, reviews, features, and writing about the current landscape. At its best, Game Informer revealed stunning covers, adorned with incredible and memorable artwork, filled with new details about the biggest releases.

Yet just as often, an issue of Game Informer was filled with the thoughts and people that make up the industry. Short opinion pieces, intriguing interviews, sprawling features, and a personal favorite, letters from readers. I pulled out a bunch of my old issues of GI for the top photo you see here, and was reminded of just how much influence these early magazines had on me.

So now, the Game Informer staff are looking for work, as a long-held bastion of games coverage disappears in a blip. As layoffs persist in this industry and more institutions are discarded or shorn to the bone, it’s hard to even know what the future looks like.