David Milner, the editor at Game Informer Australia, posted a farewell message to fans and loyal readers of the 113-issue magazine after he revealed that the owner of the magazine, EB Games, would be scaling back on its budget due to its parent company GameStop under-performing on the market.
Influencing picked up the news from Milner’s official Twitter account, where he posted a missive to his audience on April 17th, 2019.
Thank you for your kind words. I don’t have it in me today to respond but they haven’t gone unappreciated. ❤️
The good news is I’m in my 30s, unemployed, and in a metal band – which, if I’m being honest with myself, feels like the universe course correcting to its natural state.
— David Milner (@DaveMilbo) April 18, 2019
In the mish-mash of text it might be difficult to preen the noise for the bud, but most of the important stuff is located in the first image, where Milner writes…
“Today is my last day as editor of Game Informer Australia. This was not my decision.
”The owner of the magazine, EB Games, is making cuts because global parent company Gamestop recently failed to find a buyer after months on the market. Their share price suffered. This is a result.
“(For the record Game Informer Australia still sold well; readership was up 19% over the last year. Recent ad sales, however, did not really reflect this.)
“The American version of the magazine will be sold here instead. It is a great magazine, filled with the work of fantastic journalists, and I’d urge people to continue supporting it. This decision has nothing to do with the U.S. Game Informer team, a group that has never made me feel any less than part of the family. I’m going to miss working with them an awful lot.
“Game Informer has been a huge part of my life for the last six years, eight if you include my time as staff writer under Chris Stead’s editorship. This will be an adjustment. I’m sad, melancholy, and I guess, a little in denial.”
Don’t whip out the handkerchiefs so quick.
According to Influencing, Milner definitely advocated for some Left-wing politics, with the site writing…
“Milner, who joined the publication after winning its NextBigCritic competition in 2011, used the opportunity to list some of his proudest moments at the publication.
“Those include running a cover in support of the LGBTQI community during 2017’s marriage equality campaign, long-form reporting on issues affecting Australia and its games industry, and personally paying freelancers to finish up their work when the publication’s budget was cut last year.”
Milner himself also acknowledged that he had also pushed for industry-wide unionization.
Nevertheless, with GameStop being in the financial gutter, it’s a matter of questioning how long the U.S., rendition of Game Informer will stay in circulation before they eventually pull the plug?
(Thanks for the news tip Blaugast)
