Game Informer Magazine Shuts Down

Game Informer is shutting down, the magazine announced on social media Friday. It ran for 33 years, making it America’s longest-running gaming print publication.

The magazine’s staff were called into a meeting by parent company GameStop and were informed that they’d all been laid off and that the magazine would be ceasing operation immediately, Kotaku reports. Issue 367, featuring Dragon Age: The Veilguard, will be Game Informer’s final issue.

GameStop didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Game Informer’s closure comes after layoffs hit the publication in 2019 with subsequent layoffs in 2022, and after owner GameStop moved the publication to a mostly digital strategy, putting less emphasis on print. Unlike other magazines, Game Informer’s subscribers were tied to those who signed up for GameStop’s Power Up Rewards service, a paid membership that gave customers additional discounts and perks, along with an issue of the magazine every five weeks. In 2020, changes were made to the membership, pushing physical copies of the magazine to a more expensive tier. 

GameStop then removed the physical magazine perk entirely, moving the publication to a completely digital format for members last year. Physical Game Informer issues could still be bought separately at GameStop retail locations, and the magazine had recently started a physical subscription service of its own. GameStop has made no statement about whether those who bought into the physical subscription will be refunded.

Former Game Informer staff took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to vent their anger and frustration. “A frustrating turn of events (especially considering we were about 70% done with the next issue and it was going to have a GREAT cover),” said content director Kyle Hilliard. “It was an incredible 33-year run and then GameStop pumps out this phony/empty farewell message,” said video producer Ben Hanson. “This is fucked. Another culturally influential outlet gone,” said reporter Elise Favis.

The publication’s closure comes at a tumultuous time for gaming press and the games industry as a whole. Fanbyte saw nearly its entire staff laid off last year. Sites Kotaku and IGN, too, saw layoffs. Journalism writ large has been dealing with brutal layoffs with 2023 seeing 8,000 jobs cut in the US, UK and Canada, according to an analysis by Press Gazette.