After GameStop took the unorthodox step of shutting down Game Informer’s website and Twitter account, they’ve begun the process of preserving the content of the past for the future.
Last weekend we reported that Game Informer magazine had been shut down by its owner after 33 years. The magazine used to be the third largest circulation magazine in the US. With the loss of 13 staff members and years of video and written content, GameStop didn’t care about the word “archiving” and refused to say a single word about whether the site’s content (which all redirects to a page about the closure) would ever return.
We also wrote that after an initially insensitive goodbye on Game Informer’s Twitter, a real, more dignified goodbye emerged before GameStop shut down the Twitter account, because they really are in the mindset of erasing the past forever. Except that several groups have begun to respond by preserving the publication’s history. We’ve linked to 25-26 years of PDFs, but more serious than that is MinnMax’s attempt. It was founded by Ben Hanson, former video producer for Game Informer.
After Game Informer closed, MinnMax’s Discord server turned to archiving as fans began sharing many scanned issues and copies of online content. Hanson told Game File that he made a documentary about the paper in 2019, which he hopes to release soon. Another video from MinnMax surfaced this week, featuring Hanson, Dan Ryckert, Leo Vader, and Alex Van Aken, who were joined by Dan Ryckert and Alex Van Aken for a tour of the last office space.
A former staffer told Game File, “The site’s closure is a huge blow 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.
