Last week, GameStop abruptly shut down its long-running gaming magazine, Game Informer. The staff was blindsided by the news when they got to work on Friday morning—all 13 employees were laid off on the spot, and the next magazine issue, which was nearly complete, will not be finished.
GameStop announced the shutdown on the official Game Informer X account with a goodbye statement thanking readers for being a part of its "epic quest." Game Informer staff suggested they had nothing to do with the brief, cringey statement that reads like ChatGPT output. Soon after, they were alarmed to find that the entire Game Informer website had disappeared: years and years of articles had been replaced with the same GameStop statement.
This morning, the Game Informer X account went active again. This time, a former Game Informer staffer seemingly took the reins one last time to share a proper farewell:
"Our 33-year legacy deserves a genuine goodbye, written by a former Game Informer member. Were heartbroken by the shutdown of our publication, yet we leave with pride knowing we poured everything we had into it. In the words of our editor-in-chief: 'Be well, Play well.'"
Attached to the post were images of the Game Informer masthead as of the magazine's closure, a lean staff of 13 helming what was once one of the most popular publications in the US.
As noticed by Destructoid's Eric Van Allen, soon after the post was published, both it and the entire Game Informer X account disappeared. The Game Informer X account no longer exists, just like the website. It seems GameStop didn't appreciate Game Informer wanting to go out on its own terms.
While GameStop continues its course of erasing Game Informer's footprint from the internet, former GI staff at the independent publication MinnMax are planning a celebration of the publication's legacy with a series of videos and podcasts.
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