GameStop suddenly closed one of the most venerated outlets in video game journalism yesterday, laying off its entire staff with many being informed by a statement that I have come to fully believe was written by AI.
While it is bad enough to lose your job, what the past and present writers found shortly after is that Game Informer is not just closed, but the entire website has been wiped from the internet. Not just the homepage, but every single historical link to any Game Informer story in decades now redirects to the AI “Goodbye” message.
As a writer, it’s hard to understand how devastating this is, as it’s one thing to lose your job, but to be unable to point to your past work as you try to move on elsewhere is horrible. Not to mention just the loss of thousands and thousands of great features over the years from a hugely important industry outlet. The only reason this makes sense is that GameStop is trying to cut…hosting costs for the URL? It’s a move that’s being describe by many as “evil.”
This affects not just the recently laid off employees, where the site and magazine had already been cut to the bone from layoffs before this. But now anyone who has ever written for Game Informer has seen those articles lost. There is likely no recourse for this through GameStop as they technically own that content and are unlikely to simply turn the lights back on out of the goodness of their hearts.
So, there is a movement underway to preserve what can be saved through internet archives and such, though it would be a massive project that would take ages to complete, given the volume of what we’re talking about here.
GameStop has still not issued a statement on Game Informer’s closure directly, again, only publishing a “goodbye” message with no rationale. I was able to easily recreate passages of this message in ChatGPT with barely changed wording:
- The Statement: “After 33 thrilling years of bringing you the latest news, reviews, and insights from the ever-evolving world of gaming, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of Game Informer.”
- ChatGPT: “With a heavy heart, we announce the closure of Game Informer after 33 remarkable years.”
- The Statement: “From the early days of pixelated adventures to today’s immersive virtual realms, we’ve been honored to share this incredible journey with you, our loyal readers.”
- ChatGPT: “Throughout the years, we have witnessed the evolution of the gaming industry, from the early days of 16-bit graphics to the stunning, immersive worlds of today.”
- The Statement: “While our presses may stop, the passion for gaming that we’ve cultivated together will continue to live on.”
- ChatGPT: “While Game Informer may be closing its doors, the memories and connections we have built will endure.”
If you keep telling it to modify it changes the words around but all the structure is the same. Gross.
The closure of Game Informer is bad enough but destroying 30+ years of history with the press of a single button is unconscionable, and redirecting to an AI statement is a metaphor for the state of the entire industry. I hope someone is held to account for this, but at this point, I just don’t see how.
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