Hey Fediverse -
I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion around the lack of game outlets that people like to follow nowadays. I used to follow a decent amount, but with how many of them have changed - Giant Bomb, PC Gamer, RockPaperShotgun, Game Informer - I also have been looking for a new outlet/community.
I’ve been working towards starting an outlet myself, and I’m wondering what folks would like to see out of one. My list:
- Independent, or more so. Referral links make it hard to trust an outlet being unbiased if they have a financial incentive to promote things.
- Discourse focused: Modern coverage, especially from influencers, is a lot of a singular person speaking. Giant Bomb especially had great dynamics between the various perspectives when covering a game.
- Diverse Coverage: By this I mean, not just focused on AAA titles and the yearly release calendar. Covering mods, older titles, different communities (speedrunners, small multiplayer communities, etc.)
Other questions:
- Would you be interested in supporting an outlet financially? Would you even if all content was available freely, eg. public media as opposed to “premium access.”
- Do you have any preferred platforms? Would you be interested in an outlet that prioritizes the Fediverse over Twitch, Youtube, etc.?
- Do you have a preference between written content, video, audio?
Generally, what you have on the list is what I want to see from a gaming news outlet. I especially like the idea of focusing on older games, mods, niche communities, and that sort of thing. I guess if there was more of something I wanted to see in games journalism it’s more in-depth coverage of gaming topics and less rushing to cover the latest AAA release. I’d much rather be reading a long-form article about microtransactions or watching a video essay on the possibility of a video game actor strike than reading about where to find the best ship or weapon in Starfield. Of course, I’m just some random person on the internet, so take that all with a grain of salt.
I’d be interested in an outlet that has reviewers actually finish the game before writing their review. I get the perceived need to release a review as early as possible, but personally I’m willing to wait if it means a more accurate, thorough review (I’m more of a “patient gamer” these days anyway).
Inviting guest reviewers could also be a good idea I think. Always good to get different perspectives and voices.
As for mediums, I prefer video for reviews as it allows for demonstrations of different aspects of the game. This is especially helpful when talking about a game’s performance and artistic direction.
I’d be interested in an outlet that:
- Does not accept free copies/codes for game or early copies of the games. Access journalism is a plague.
- Brings in guests to the show/podcast/whatever who are proficient and knowledgeable about the games being discussed. I don’t expect the hosts to be experts, but I’m tired of hearing layman’s takes on games that I’m interested in.
Would you be interested in supporting an outlet financially? If it’s a good product, I’d support a Patreon or whatever.
Do you have any preferred platforms? Would you be interested in an outlet that prioritizes the Fediverse over Twitch, Youtube, etc.? I think it would be best to post content cross-platform otherwise you risk having a dead community or, worse, a circlejerk community.
Do you have a preference between written content, video, audio? I think video and written are a minimum nowadays with audio being a nice bonus.****
I agree with you on keys/access. Part of why I think being beholden to the release calendar for content is such a problem. It was one thing when previews meant something, now that every publisher/developer promotes directly to their audience and being critical gets you on their bad side, there’s not a huge point to it.
Guests are a good point! That’s been something I’ve wanted to focus on, similar to Giant Bomb at Nite and the Interview Dumptruck. Doing post-mortems with developers could be really interesting.
I hear you on the dead community point as well. Kind of want to encourage discourse happening outside of the big platforms, but using the larger ones to help build an audience.
People Make Games is a channel that I would call game journalism. Look at their coverage about Disco Elysium, its really great.
Totally agree with you. The hype cycle has killed a lot of interest in recently released titles for me as well, the first 2 weeks it’s the best thing ever, then the tide begins to turn.
Also agree on the Steam point. I’ve been trying to check out more indie games on Steam since it’s maybe the only platform that has decent discovery for them now, outside of Itch. It’s also so hard for indies to get any traction with how journalism and marketing functions outside of paying for it in one way or another.
