GamePro Shutting Down After 22 Years

redletterdave writes "Popular gaming magazine GamePro has shut down its U.S. operations after 22 years of publications by its parent company IDG. GamePro's website, which has been online for about 13 years, will be converted to a gaming channel and incorporated into PCWorld on Dec. 5. Sources within the magazine say GamePro's employees, including its executives, received phone calls this morning with the news. The news comes as a relative surprise, as GamePro experienced its highest traffic ever last week. The company also released its first quarterly magazine earlier this month after deciding monthly print issues were too costly to maintain."

Comments

Convert to digital?

[Tufriast]

Hello! Don't shut down the site, just shut down the print and go to iOS NewsStand! Was this even considered? This was the first gaming magazine I ever read. I have issue #1 in my attic some place, and yeah, I thought it was grand. Now, the market has changed, and they give up? What the hell, is it that American companies just LACK agility in any shape or form these days? I can think of maybe 5 off the top of my head that will come against a big change and go "ok we can handle this" instead of doing like GamePro and caving. Ok I'm done ranting, but seriously, what is with the print industry? Sure, print is done, but DON'T kill the horse. Start a games site. See Destructoid or some other successful indie gaming news outlet. They started indie and made it big. GamePro would have had the advantage of starting big and STAYING BIG.

Re:Convert to digital?

[angry tapir]

Well they would already have had online revenue from the website, and I doubt this was a snap decision. Trust me, at the moment publishing is a really hard industry to be in, and really hard to be profitable in. It's not just as easy as saying "Whoo! Digital revenue instead of deadtree revenue!"

(Kind of disclaimer: I actually work for IDG's Australian subsidiary -- shameless plug: http://www.techworld.com.au/ -- but I don't know the ins and outs of this decision. It's pretty sad though, given the Gamepro brand is pretty venerable in its particular niche.)

Re:Convert to digital?

[theArtificial]

Greetings. Speaking as someone who is involved in the print industry, our company works/ed with many large and small papers across the US as well as in several countries over the last 40 years supplying software for advertisement accounts receivable and circulation management.

This was the first gaming magazine I ever read. I have issue #1 in my attic some place, and yeah, I thought it was grand. Now, the market has changed, and they give up? What the hell, is it that American companies just LACK agility in any shape or form these days?

I noticed you didn't say "I have their latest magazine on my desk". I think you may be able to answer your own question: How many people 35 and under in your circle regularly purchase magazines or maintain active subscriptions, even to papers? Heck, I hardly purchase them any more opting for online sources which don't require a subscription ("free" isn't my only metric, my habits have changed from 15 years ago). Typically I make a few magazine/news paper purchases a year and using this year as an example I recall purchasing 2600 and maybe a neat specialty bookazine (200 pages of CG stuff from the UK) throughout the year. Many of my friends do not even do that, but they do make book and misc. purchases from Amazon throughout the year. How much competition is there in the video game segment?

Where and how people get information has changed significantly. In addition to that, what people are willing to pay for has changed as well. Another example from that past is to look at how news groups used to be THE way to get information online. Now forums have replaced news groups for the most part, see stackexchange.

I can think of maybe 5 off the top of my head that will come against a big change and go "ok we can handle this" instead of doing like GamePro and caving.

And how many have folded in that same period? Shrinking pie.

Ok I'm done ranting, but seriously, what is with the print industry? Sure, print is done, but DON'T kill the horse. Start a games site. See Destructoid or some other successful indie gaming news outlet. They started indie and made it big. GamePro would have had the advantage of starting big and STAYING BIG.

I don't think you're aware of print margins either but maybe their business isn't viable without the print. How much overhead is there (take someone's salary and double that for a rule of thumb business costs)? See how much effort is involved in maintaining a sales force, steady income via subscriptions and/or advertisers, distribution, creative (writers, designers), legal etc. It's a lot of work and to say "you just give up when the market changes?" is hilarious. In the software world buyouts happen all the time - look at Google (Picasa!), Microsoft (Security Essentials), Apple etc. Look at the phone industry. I digress. Since there is now one less player, and you're confident in the demand for the services this publication provided now is your chance to shine, who knows, you might be able to scratch an itch.

Re:Most popular services survive

[exomondo]

So, was there anything special Gamespy offered that the others didn't?

You mean Gamepro?

I'm old...

[Charliemopps]

Wow, I remember seeing the first issue of this magazine on the shelf and thinking to myself "HOLY CRAP A MAGAZINE ABOUT VIDEOGAMES?!?!" I still have the issue. Found a pic here: http://gamesnet.vo.llnwd.net/o1/gnet/117181_6.jpg

At the time there wasn't anything else, at least where I lived. There was no internet. Basically you got a game and guessed the best that you could. All those awesome Easter eggs that gave you unlimited lives and such? No one knew really... and if you got stuck in one spot in a game? You were truely screwed. Nothing you could do but give up. Then along game Gamepro and a couple of other magazines like it and BAM! Full maps! Tips! Strategy! Hell, I'd read guides to games I didn't even have and then decide to beg my parents for some money.

I don't know how relevant they are now... or any print material for that matter. But they were revolutionary in 1989, RIP Gamepro.

Re:By Slashdot standards, Reddit's crap looks savo

[lucm]

Slashdot today is a bad joke. I often find better content and discussions on Twitter.

IMHO, part of the problem is that most Slashdot comments are literally bad jokes. Too many of the comments are feeble attempts at humor by some attention starved idiot who believes he/she is far more clever than they actually are.

IMHO, part of the problem is that most Slashdot comments are about what comments should/should not be. Too many of the comments are feeble attempts at trying to tell people what they should or should not post.