Game Informer preservation efforts begin as GameStop shutters website and X account
The publication ended its 33 year run on Friday
Several groups are in the process of attempting to preserve the history of Game Informer following its closure.
On Friday it was announced that the magazine – which began in 1991 and at one point was the third-most circulated publication in the United States – would close, leaving over a dozen staffers out of work and years of written and video content in peril.
The publication’s website currently redirects to a single landing page, with decades of content now inaccessible, and no word from parent company GameStop regarding whether the website will ever return.
Game Informer’s X account has now been deleted, after a former staffer, who seemingly still had access to the account, used it to write what they called “a genuine goodbye” to the publication.
Several groups have now started efforts to preserve the publication’s history. One of the main groups leading the charge is MinnMax, which former Game Informer video producer Ben Hanson founded.
After the announcement of Game Informer’s closure, the MinnMax Discord group quickly became a defacto preservation effort, with fans sharing scans of issues, and copies of online content that never made it to print.
Speaking to Game File, Hanson said he shot a documentary about the publication in 2019, and hopes to release it soon. This week, MinnMax released a video filmed earlier this year in which Hanson, alongside fellow former Game Informer editor Dan Ryckert, Leo Vader, and Alex Van Aken, toured the publication’s final office space.
Also speaking to Game File, a former staffer said: “The website’s closure is a tremendous hit to important preservation work, and I hope GameStop reconsiders its decision.
“The sudden shutdown of the website and magazine last week eliminated a rich archive of video game history including thousands of news stories, game reviews, interviews, original reporting, and exclusive cover stories that documented the making of countless games — including high-profile cancellations like StarCraft: Ghost and Rainbow 6: Patriots.”
