We’ve reached a breaking point in games journalism

Games media continues to be hollowed out, and it's not slowing down.

Putting words on a website has never been easier. But this isn't getting any easier.

Over the past two years we've seen swathes of games industry jobs on the development side just disappear — and the flip side of that coin has been no different. The loss of gaming journalism jobs has been relentless, with what feels like endless re-orgs, questionable mergers, ill-advised sales, and ultimately lots of job losses.

Christopher Dring, writing at The Game Business, recently noted how there's been 100,000 fewer gaming-related articles published so far this year when compared to the same period in 2024. The reason for this collapse seems perfectly clear — there's just less folks to write. Particularly people in fairly paid, full-time roles.

So many peers, whose work I enjoy, admire and respect, have found themselves with an increasingly limited number of outlets to work for.

Getting a secure, full-time gig in this landscape feels increasingly rare, and freelancers find themselves having to jump around far more now than they did, say pre-pandemic — and it's often for an embarrassing pittance (or dogshit perhaps..) of pay.

Now, following the double-whammy presumed deaths of industry staples Giant Bomb and Polygon, the sadly grim picture is clearer than ever: things aren't going to be the same again.

Screenshot of a post on Bluesky from Giant Bomb about the 'creative direction' of the site, replies disabled. — Huh, 'Replies disabled'... I wonder why

For too long sites have had to jump through the hoops of also doing a certain type of content to keep the lights on. It's a largely thankless task, but it's apparently what must be done to appease the unknowable Google algorithm. Heck, we've dabbled and experimented with it here.

Our current AI moment has only muddied the water to an even greater extent (or perhaps more aptly, heated it up to an unbearable level). Meticulously researched human-crafted guides content slurped up by AI and republished across countless slop houses is seemingly the order of the day. Gross. No. We can do better.

But the answer to the question of what to do about all this... is yet to truly pull into focus — however it is evident that we're at something of a turning point. Google's search power, rampant AI developments, along with the clear lack of funding for actual reporting make for a toxic mix.

Getting a job in games media seemed almost unattainable when I broke in back in 2005. In the years since, it’s become almost impossible and ultimately inadvisable. I can’t imagine trying to break in today. Independent is pretty much the only option now. Support your favorite creators directly.
— Dan Ryckert (@danryckert.com) 2025-05-01T16:37:01.080Z

The slow death of game journalism was not inevitable - it was death by 1000 cuts from people with more money than sense and in my mind began with "pivot to video," a lie perpetrated by Facebook which moved advertising dollars to video and away from web ads with falsified beefed numbers.
— Brandon Sheffield (@brandon.insertcredit.com) 2025-05-01T16:13:45.160Z

Patrick Klepek (who has an excellent newsletter by the way), was speaking on a recent episode of Remap, and said the following:

"I think we are witnessing in real-time the collapse of our traditional understanding of institutional games media."

"I think it's going away, I don't think it's coming back, and I don't think I'm being apocalyptic — these jobs aren't coming back. These websites in the form that you've enjoyed them aren't coming back."

He adds how the rise of video content, along with influencer culture, has also played a part in shaping how folks now chose to engage with gaming media and learn about games — the full conversation is well worth a listen.

Both Kevin and I started overkill in the summer of 2022 with a (maybe naive) glimmer of hope about making a home on the web to not only talk about the things we love, but also elevate some of the voices of folks with something to say — and maybe making a bit of pocket money along the way. We've never made a sufficient amount to go full time, but we've made enough to pay a small number of freelancers: be that Laura Kate Dale talking about accessibility, Max Wright sharing his favourite Metroidvania's, Ben Kuchera on screen-time escapism, or Timo Schmidt and his excellent guides on getting the most out of Steam Deck gaming. Although a tiny list of names, it's been a joy to be able to publish others and pay them (quickly and on time).

overkill remains a side-project for Kevin and I, but it's one we want to try to figure out how to make work — if you want to navigate what that looks like with us, you should subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Of course, with so many outlets disappearing it's no surprise to see so many excellent writers go it alone, so support them and support the media outlets we do still have — as one things for sure, we shouldn't take them for granted.

❤️ Here's a few tabs well worth opening:

Aidan Moyer has put together a handy Bluesky games media starter pack, which also has some solid recommendations.

..also Kaylee Rowena has put together a site with other suggestions and a list of former Polygon employees and where to help them.