Key Takeaways
- Game Informer employees discovered their layoffs through social media, without prior notice.
- The magazine faced an abrupt shutdown despite being 70 percent finished with the next issue.
- GameStop had initially acquired Game Informer in 2000, but struggled since, leading to the magazine’s closure.
Whether your favorite games were on the Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo consoles, if you grew up a gamer, you almost certainly read Game Informer at one time or another. One of the most and original video game magazines had been around for 33 years.
After trying to find a second, third, and fourth life, Game Informer is officially closing up shop. What’s worse than the end of the publication/website is that when management did indeed decide to officially shut down, its employees apparently didn’t get any sort of a heads-up.
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Several employees expressed shock after the announcement
Game Informer management announced the publication announced the official shutdown on social media with a post titled, “The Final Level: Farewell from Game Informer.” That post started by announcing the closure after 33 years of being in print and online, and then back to print.
The announcement was a shock to Game Informer’s readers but more importantly, the closure was also a surprise to many of it’s employees. Some took to social media themselves to claim the company didn’t bother to inform anyone they’d be laid off and they found out their jobs ended through that Twitter posting.
Game Informer’s lead video editor Alex Van Aken made it clear some of his coworkers still didn’t know they’d lost their jobs after the initial announcement.
“There are still people on staff who don’t know what’s happening yet there’s a tweet that someone higher up posted spilling the news. I’ll have some stuff to say later today, but yes, everyone at Game Informer was laid off about an hour ago.”
Content director Kyle Hilliard echoed Van Aken’s comments, saying that not only had GameStop shut down Game Informer rather abruptly, but it had done so despite the fact that the next issue was “70 percent done.”
Other employees soon took to social media to voice their own displeasure and surprise about the closure and the layoffs. For its part, GameStop has not specifically addressed the claims that it gave those working for Game Informer a heads-up before announcing the move to the general public.
GameStop first acquired Game Informer when it purchased Funcoland back in 2000. Originally, the magazine was seen as an added bonus for those who purchased a GameStop Pro subscription.
However, as the video game retailer struggled, so did the magazine. In January, GameStop reportedly killed off the print version, but it was resurrected via a stand-alone subscription for $19.91, which was an homage to the year of the magazine’s founding. However, just five months after that decision, Game Informer is officially shuttered.
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