Game Informer Has Been Shut Down

Game Informer, a print gaming magazine and website owned by retailer GameStop, was abruptly shuttered Friday.

A post on the magazine's Twitter account reads, "After 33 thrilling years of bringing you the latest news, reviews, and insights from the ever-evolving world of gaming, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of Game Informer."

According to Kotaku, Game Informer staff

were all called into a meeting on Friday with parent company GameStop’s VP of HR. In it they were told the publication was closing immediately, they were all laid off, and would begin receiving severance terms. At least one staffer was in the middle of a work trip when the team was told. 

Video lead Alex Van Aken wrote on Twitter that "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."

(Update, 2:07pm--After being down earlier in the day, Game Informer's website currently contains nothing but the farewell message seen on Twitter, the latest example of media owners' habit of nuking their sites from orbit when they shutter.)

GameStop purchased Game Informer's parent company FuncoLand in 2000. In recent years, the outlet saw layoffs in (at least) 2019, 2022, and 2024 as it struggled to surf the waves of GameStop's chaotic and collapsing business. In March, Game Informer began selling standalone magazine subscriptions, with editor-in-chief Matt Miller writing at the time that

Even a brief look around the gaming industry right now can be sobering. Hard times, layoffs, cancellations, and closures have impacted thousands of game developers and publishers, as well as other outlets like us that celebrate games. We haven't been immune to that hardship...

I believe there's something special about a real physical magazine in your hands, filled with beautiful layouts arranged and planned each month to celebrate what we all love in the gaming hobby.

There sure is, alongside all the other great work Game Informer staff and contributors did. But now we have one less gaming outlet, and more gaming journalists out of work. This sucks.