EGM Magazine is Dead

egm-magazineEGM Magazine Closed by Buyer

Well, EGM Magazine lovers… I feel guilty, although I probably shouldn’t.

On Jan. 7th, Ziff Davis announced that they’ve closed down the entire EGM magazine publishing operation, only days after my post criticizing the clipping problem they had on their Gears of War 2 cover.

Okay, I admit that there’s definitely zero correlation between my tiny knock (mostly aimed at the GoW 2 game artist, anyhow) and the shuttering of this game writing and analysis institution. Still, I feel a little bad for having thrown some flack in their direction at such a lousy stage of their lifespan.

Technically, Ziff* didn’t kick EGM and its many game writers to the curb. It was UGO Entertainment, a branch of Hearst, which bought EGM and promptly snuffed the mag and its antiquated print operation. Paper! Hmph! Who reads paper, anyhow?

Well, suckers, I do. I get sick of staring at a monitor for hours a day.

EGM and Vinyl

A decade ago, people couldn’t wait to unload their old records. Now collectors are pursuing lost vinyl treasures, USB turntables are in stock at every Best Buy, and DJs sweat buckets transporting milk crates of records from gig to gig.

We may be readying for a new era of e-ink where everything we read is digital and looks like paper. But that “paperless society” meme has clearly revealed itself to be the worst kind of marketing horseshit.

EGM Had Real Value

Also, Ziff and UGO are fools for trashing one of the game industry’s finest brands. We’re talking about EGM. Magazine, schmagazine, this is the last grand game review stalwart. We’re supposed to read Game Informer now? And after the dustup at Gamespot, how can we trust game websites?

Ask any marketing student or business professor. A brand is worth hard currency; it’s a name that carries weight and has been built into a reputable entity over decades of effort. I know newspapers and magazines are struggling to monetize their brands, but if you owned The New York Times, would you shut it down cold because you can’t figure out how to make a buck off it?

* Ziff does own the singular distinction of having deep-sixed the legendary CGW, which they first slapped with the moniker Games for Windows as a final insult.

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2 Comments

  1. This is incredibly depressing. I have a subscription and would never had guessed that the last issue was the January issue. EGM was the only magazine I read from cover to cover. It was awesome that the editors had my similar tastes so I would buy games based on their reviews. Ugh, I never saw this coming. I never really visited 1up.com but I’m gonna give it a try now that I won’t be getting anymore EGMs *cry*.

  2. I know…!

    I should also mention that UGO is getting a lot of hatemail for their role, but some remaining EGM staffers are trying to urge compassion.

    Apparently UGO stepped in to save what they could of the shambles that remained, so they shouldn’t be cursed for trying to prevent something that could’ve been much worse.

    Still, to me the EGM name has more clout than UGO or even 1UP. And altho I’m aware that EGM is kind of like a Top 40 station of game media (having always been an EDGE magazine fan), I think EGM’s passing is indicative of a sea change in game writing and game media. :( It’s just strange to me to see two premiere IPs thrown out the window like yesterday’s trash.

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