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Former Kotaku writers are launching a new video game site — and they own it this time
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/7/23949269/aftermath-video-games-kotaku-defector
“We really reverse-engineered the idea of blogging.”
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/7/23949269/aftermath-video-games-kotaku-defector
“We really reverse-engineered the idea of blogging.”
Well, a bunch more talent just hit the job market with The Escapist melting down, too.
I encourage anyone that hasn't yet to try any subscription-based journalism for a month just to see how different the writing is when it's not beholden to advertising and SEO.
Their parent company fired some people, including the editor-in-chief, and he was so well liked the entire video team resigned and went with him. They're now Second Wind. https://youtube.com/@SecondWindGroup?si=AgYWGLqEK6GKwtGo
I like the sound of this! The Starfield coffee article was funny. $7 a month miiiight be a little bit much for me - but I'll keep an eye on this and if the journalism is decent and they put out a fair number of articles I'll definitely consider it. I guess I used to spend around that amount on gaming magazines...
That's more or less where I am at.
I am ride or die with Remap (added a year of Founders during the launch stream) and consider their podcast insanity to be worth the monthly fee alone.
But for 404 and Aftermath and whoever else, I am planning on buying a month or two here and there when there is a particularly good article I want to read/"support". Probably comes out higher than grabbing an issue of EGM or OPM or PC Gamer back in the day, but also inflation so it might even be cheaper?
Between this and Remap continuing with essays & journalism... I am one happy dude. I'm hopeful that there is still a space for writing in the video game area.
404 Media (formerly Motherboard at Vice) are generally more "tech news" but they are similarly going down that road (and it sounds like they actually worked with the Remap (formerly Waypoint at Vice which worked closely with Motherboard at Vice and were in a similar org structure) crew to iterate on the model).
And what it will actually entail is unclear, but Gamers Nexus similarly brought back their written article website to provide more information on hardware reviews and so forth. Also sounds like it will be a venue for longer form pieces similar to their Artesian Builds video.
Remap is what Waypoint turned into. Waypoint was a video game vertical/section through Vice Media. It was Patrick Klepek, Rob Zacny, Ricardo Contreras, Renata Price, and Austin Walker at one point. Klepek, Zacny, & Contreras started Remap to carry on their brand of video game analysis (very thoughtful, far-left leaning, and often times focusing on smaller and older games).
🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary The website, which is now live, will be co-owned by Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Riley MacLeod, and Luke Plunkett — all Kotaku mainstays who helped shape its incisive voice before leaving the site for one reason or another.
Some of the first stories include posts about video game unions, Alan Wake II, a bike ride MacLeod went on, and Starfield’s coffee situation.
Some of the most successful studios have announced layoffs in recent months, including BioWare, Bungie, CD Projekt Red, Epic Games, and Niantic.
Defector was created by furious Deadspin staffers, who felt their former site was suffering under private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which owns G/O Media.
Klepek says the company, which launched in June and has three full-time staffers, has been able to match salaries from Vice, compensate people to appear on their podcasts, and pay freelance writers.
Aftermath is going to be mostly focused on writing, and that might mean it has a harder road competing with other established outlets and individual creators on platforms like Twitch and TikTok.
Saved 89% of original text. :::
This is where they once again find out that there just isn't enough money in direct website video game journalism at this point.
I subscribed and I liked what I'm reading so far! I liked their Alan Wake article and how it celebrated the cheesy elements of Remedy's work...listened to all the Alan Wake songs and Take Control on my train ride this morning :D
I love the idea. Worker co-ops and subscription-based news (just like a newspaper) are both perfect models for this. I'm a big proponent for and supporter of the Patreon model for small creators.
...But I read through their articles and they're just not in sync with my taste in gaming. I think they need more writers who are into sandboxes and sims, because they all seem super into smaller, narrative-core games, and somewhat derisive of open worlds that don't hyper focus on a story.