Thanks for writing this. We're seeing the exact same thing happen again and again in science journalism, too. Popular Science is the latest (and perhaps most beloved) casualty of their VC owners.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate. (Warning: subjective opinion incoming) Videos are the dominant form of game journalism now. I used to do this as a living and I have many 'old school' gaming friends who used to fawn over magazines and websites. They all now use YouTube for gaming news, no exceptions.
And looking at the data posted by some of these excellent Substack outlets (yours included), there is a disconnect between game media coverage and what gamers seem to care about. Fot example, there was a lot of copy about MS/Activision, which I can assure zero people I know cared about, even the COD and Diablo die-hards.
I think most gaming media isn't really serving the market properly. They are still covering games in story and type how we did 15 years ago, with Edge and Gamasutra as the exceptions, imo. Then we moan because people who make money decisions see the forest for the trees.
There was a saying in my magazine days: you just need a few bad months to go under. Maybe game publications should think about how to grab the attention of gamers again. I don't see popular YouTube channels complain about these issues...
Thanks for the great newsletter! I do like how the more niche sides of game business coverage has found homes on Substack.
Tom's piece was quite the surprise, as Eurogamer always seemed so resilient and independent, even when under a corporate umbrella. Just a few months ago I was told its traffic was better than ever, so this sale seems particularly mercenary. As ever, I'll channel my gormless hope into some miraculous new model to save the day, or the EG network somehow buying itself out. I guess a lowball bid from considators-par-excellence Future Publishing is out of the question?
Very tough news to hear. And yes, sadly this is how acquisitions and restructures work, you are bang on right there. Brutal, this kind of thing. If it’s any kind of consolation, even if only in the longer term, there is good work out there for great journalists, editors and visualization experts. Not in games media, perhaps. But other media.
Thanks for writing this. We're seeing the exact same thing happen again and again in science journalism, too. Popular Science is the latest (and perhaps most beloved) casualty of their VC owners.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate. (Warning: subjective opinion incoming) Videos are the dominant form of game journalism now. I used to do this as a living and I have many 'old school' gaming friends who used to fawn over magazines and websites. They all now use YouTube for gaming news, no exceptions.
And looking at the data posted by some of these excellent Substack outlets (yours included), there is a disconnect between game media coverage and what gamers seem to care about. Fot example, there was a lot of copy about MS/Activision, which I can assure zero people I know cared about, even the COD and Diablo die-hards.
I think most gaming media isn't really serving the market properly. They are still covering games in story and type how we did 15 years ago, with Edge and Gamasutra as the exceptions, imo. Then we moan because people who make money decisions see the forest for the trees.
There was a saying in my magazine days: you just need a few bad months to go under. Maybe game publications should think about how to grab the attention of gamers again. I don't see popular YouTube channels complain about these issues...
Thanks for the great newsletter! I do like how the more niche sides of game business coverage has found homes on Substack.
Tom's piece was quite the surprise, as Eurogamer always seemed so resilient and independent, even when under a corporate umbrella. Just a few months ago I was told its traffic was better than ever, so this sale seems particularly mercenary. As ever, I'll channel my gormless hope into some miraculous new model to save the day, or the EG network somehow buying itself out. I guess a lowball bid from considators-par-excellence Future Publishing is out of the question?
Very tough news to hear. And yes, sadly this is how acquisitions and restructures work, you are bang on right there. Brutal, this kind of thing. If it’s any kind of consolation, even if only in the longer term, there is good work out there for great journalists, editors and visualization experts. Not in games media, perhaps. But other media.