LogInMore than 1,200 gaming journalists have been eliminated over the past two years.
Following Eurogamer, Polygon, Giant Bomb, and IGN, TheGamer becomes yet another mastodon of online gaming journalism to be affected by layoffs, with numerous now-former employees taking to social media to announce their involuntary departures.
Although no official announcement has been made so far, the layoffs were revealed by both affected staff and remaining TheGamer employees, who reported that the site's entire Features team has been disbanded and suggested that the directive came from Valnet, the owner of TheGamer, Game Rant, OpenCritic, and the aforementioned Polygon.
The exact number of journalists impacted remains unknown at the time of writing. However, VGC reports, citing several anonymous former employees, that the team was "decimated" and notes that while layoffs themselves weren't surprising, their sheer scale sure was. Those confirmed to have been let go include Eric Switzer, Andrew King, Sam Hallahan, and Branden Lizardi.
As if by some fated coincidence, on the very day TheGamer's layoffs were disclosed, VGC also reported data from Press Engine showing that the global pool of journalists at big-league gaming publications has declined by 25% in just two years, with over 600 gaming journalists lost in the past year alone.
If the past two-year period is taken into consideration, that number rises to more than 1,200 gaming journalists who got axed and never returned to the industry. But that only counts full-time staff – when factoring in part-time, freelance, and amateur writers, VGC notes, the total number of departures from games media since October 2023 exceeds 4,000.
So, what's your take on the mass layoffs at big-league gaming publications? What do you think are the reasons behind them? Is this a net positive or negative for the gaming industry as a whole? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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