EGM Magazine to Close Following 1UP Sale, Over 30 Employees Let Go

First off, this flat out stinks. My heart goes out to the 1Up and EGM guys. Especially the folks that survived the CGW/GFW implosion only to get shown the door anyway a few months later. I know they were working their asses off to make 1Up better, and keep their jobs.

But I have to ask, what does this mean, on the whole, for the segment of the games media that did more than reword press releases and actually wrote original content? Now, I'm not saying 1Up was a shining beacon of games journalism, but they did have some stuff, and now they're likely just gone (who wants to bet it'll keep the 1Up brand, but really just be UGO with a different skin?).

GameSpot isn't what it used to be, and even it's probably in trouble with the web ad market imploding. GameSpy has been on the iffy side since the IGN merger. We have little pockets of refuge like Shack, but even with Nick's editorial work near the end of last year, so much of the content here is reporting news, screenshots, etc.

Not only are we seeing the death of the print mag, I think we're seeing a steep decline in the variety of voices talking about games (at least ones who can reach more than the dozen or so readers on a blog). I have a hard time taking seriously a game site that also runs a "Foxy Ladies" site under the same overall brand (http://foxyfans.ugo.com/). Hell, their "PC Game Center" hasn't seen an update since May. 1Up is being absorbed by a company for whom gaming is no longer a real focus. They're a "Lifestyle" site now.

So what happens with the shakeout? Do sites like Shack step up and start to fill the gap left as all of these sites and magazines either close or merge? I think there's a major need for more than just reporting on game delays, feature lists and screenshot/trailer releases. Or is content like that too expensive to manage right now in light of vanishing ad dollars?

Now, before someone jumps down my throat in defense of the many awesome writers and editors out there at sites like UGO, GameSpy, IGN, Shack etc... I am not talking about any failure on their part. These guys love their work and are good at what they do, but the sites they work for have to meet payroll, so in a lot of cases they are forced to stick with what they know will generate the pageviews and bring in the money. This piece of the industry seems to be growing increasingly risk-adverse.

So, does this mean they will refund me if I paid for a 2 year subscription? I'm pretty sure my subscription is due on the Summer 2009, so that's about a good 3-4 months left.

My first Gaming mag as a Teen, sorry to see them go. I remember looking forward to the SushiX articles.

Just shy of its 20th anniversary too :(

Fitting that the December 2008 cover was with Watchmen's Rorschach and the caption "The End Is Nigh."

I hope Robert Ashley is picked up somewhere. That guy is great, everyone needs to read his article on how PC gaming ended up on your couch.

Dammit, I loved teh GFW podcast so much that I signed up for a 2 year subscription. Then Green and Elliot left. Due to a shipping issue I didn't receive my first issue until Ocotober. So I'mg going to get 3 freaking issues out of this 2 year subscription. Awesome.

Goodbye EGM. :(

I've had a subscription since around 1990 and I bought the first issue in K-mart back in 1989. I still have it. They showed off games like Contra, Phantasy Star, and Dragon Warrior. I even remember fondly reading the reviews of EGM with Steve, Ed, Martin, and Sushi-X.

I guess that's the fate of print mags for gaming. I just expected EGM to be the last to go. I'm amazed that PC Gamer is still running. Also I noticed that Game Informer is a lot thinner now.

So sad.

this news makes me sad. I spent my childhood time inside reading EGM instead of outside playing with those snotty neighborhood kids. I don't think i'd be as big of a game geek if it wasn't for EGM. They also inspired me to get into illustrations (they had the most kick ass art/covers of any magazine, even better then GamePro and Nintendo Power) . RIP EGM.

I had an EGM subscription for years and even EGM2 for a while, but yeah the web killed print. It just doesn't make sense anymore.

The writing, reviews, and coverage were all top notch every month. Though it has been ten years since I had a subscription I still find it sad to see EGM die off. I was always extremely satisfied with it, but it just doesn't make sense now. With places Shacknews (or 1UP) now were information is more up to date and all types of media can be served (see: video) there just doesn't seem to be much room for periodicals. Even newspapers are having to reconfigure their business around the internet. It seems far more efficient for all parties involved to deliver any periodical-type information via the web rather than on dead trees, with tons of ink, through the mail.

RIP EGM.

egm was always the insuperior dancer compared to game players. but their tenacity and longevity is noteworthy, and EGM will always have a place in the halls of the history of electronic gaming journalism

I guess they need to suck up the "Chuff" love.

So... do I get my money back since my annual re-subscription date is in November?

Shacknews killed EGM. :P

This makes me sad.

I've got issues of EGM stretching back to the early 90's.

Rest in peace, egm. You were one of the better console mags (second only to game informer). I will never buy another gamepro, that's for sure. That magazine has gone down the tubes.

I don't really get why a company that targets online media to young men has acquired the site, then immediately fired all the people with the most influence and reputation amongst that group.

That's ok, most of the cool people already quit.

Who even goes to UGO anyway? At first I thought they got bought by IGN and then I looked again and realized that UGO was even still around. With Hearst owning them I suppose they have money but Hearst can't be doing so good with the slow death of newspapers and all.

damn I used to love EGM as a 13 yo. I would check the mail every day.

:( I loved that mag. The internet killed the magazine.

Magazines like EGM dominated during the 56k days, when images took forever to download. I remember buying an EGM that was almost 200 pages. Thing was like a book - it was awesome.

Fuck, I was wondering where my 1UP FM was yesterday :(

Hopefully they can stick together and do a GiantBomb sort of thing.

Welp I guess this is the end of my epic cgm subscription. I renewed CGM the month it close. That subscription got added to my CGW subscription which was translated to an EGM subscription.

Any bets on how long it will take Hearst to lay off everyone at 1up and redirect everything to their shitty UGO site?

Hey, that's the same Halo collector's issue I have! Now my issue is worth 10x than before!

EGM was a great publication. They were not shy letting people know what they thought. Unfortunately they were really lacking with exclusives (may be due to some tendency to not sugar coat their impressions and previews)

Really sucks to see EGM go. As long as I have the shack though I'm good. If something happens to the shack, I might as well cancel the internet

Fuck, they fired matt and ryan from the 1up show, no more 1up show :(

Good Lord...they canned Shane Bettanhausen and Ryan Scott too. WTF? Why even bother taking the 1UP Name?

well this sucks, now what the fuck I am gonna read during lunch hr? I can read "the week" but I need some videogame stuff too.

and what gives by the way? I went to barnes and noble the other day and lo and behold there were "GAMEPRO" magazines there! wtf I havent read gamepro since i was teenager, how the hell are they around while everyone else pretty much took a dirt nap?

Damn, don't any of you enjoy kicking back on the can, couch, waiting for your kids (if you have them) at soccer practice, etc and flipping through a gaming magazine. Sure the internet trumphs them but they have their place. It's not like they cost a fortune if you subscribe through a place like Amazon.

This makes me miss Gamefan :/

Bummer. I hope most of the crew sticks around, especially the 1up Show fellahs.

shacknews.com is why I don't read rags like EGM et all. :)

That what you get for making me waste $25 trying to find Sheng Long, motherfuckers!

I remember when SF2 was out for SNES and EGM ran an article about how to play as the bosses using the game genie. It was so damn cool.

This really kind of sucks. Games for Windows Magazine and EGM were the only gaming magazines I read with any frequency (PC Gamer as well but... erm) and their loss is just saddening.

1Up, as a site, was too busy for my tastes but the staff -- especially around the time of the GfW Magazine closure -- is composed of some pretty great talent.

I used to read this magazine almost religiously about 10 years ago when I lived up in New Hampshire and had nothing to do at work all day (worked in a movie-rental store). I didn't even own a console at the time... I just liked reading what was on the horizon.