Last week, GameStop abruptly shut down its long-running gaming magazine, Game Informer. Employees were surprised to hear the news when they arrived at work Friday morning — all 13 employees were fired on the spot, and the next issue of the magazine, which was nearly ready, will not be completed.
GameStop announced the closure of the official Game Informer X account, posting a farewell statement thanking readers for joining the “epic journey.” Game Informer staffers suggested they had nothing to do with the brief, embarrassing statement, which reads like a ChatGPT output. Shortly thereafter, they were alarmed to discover that the entire Game Informer website had disappeared: years of articles had been replaced with the same GameStop statement.
This morning, the Game Informer X account became vigorous again. This time, a former Game Informer employee apparently took over for the final time to say goodbye:
“Our 33-year legacy deserves a heartfelt farewell from a former Game Informer staffer. We are heartbroken to close our publication, but we leave with pride knowing we put everything we had into it. As our Editor-in-Chief said, ‘Stay healthy, have fun.'”
The post was accompanied by photos of the Game Informer headline from the moment the magazine, which was headed by a slim, 13-person team and was once one of the most popular publications in the US, closed.
As he noticed Eric Van Allen from Destructoidshortly after the post went live, both it and the entire Game Informer X account disappeared. The Game Informer X account is now gone, as is the website. It appears that GameStop underestimated Game Informer’s willingness to go out on its own terms.
As GameStop continues its efforts to erase Game Informer’s footprint from the internet, former GI employees at independent publication MinnMax are planning celebrating the legacy of publishing with a series of videos and podcasts.
