Game Informer Australia, the Aussie version of the American video game magazine, will be shutting down due to budget cuts at parent company EB Games, despite increased readership over the past year. The cuts ultimately stem from EB Games’ parent company GameStop, and their inability to find buyer to take the reins of the company when it went up for sale last summer. As a result, the company’s stock plummeted by just over 25%. The magazine’s now-former editor, David Milner, took to Twitter to offer readers some form of explanation as well as a heartfelt thank you and goodbye.
Milner uses the opportunity to recount some of his finer memories with the magazine, where he was the editor for the last six years. “I’m proud of the long-form journalism and the tough issues we covered […] I’m proud of the thoughtful community we helped shape – a welcoming oasis among the online wasteland […] I’m proud that we highlighted the work of countless local game developers […] I’m proud that, on the cover of the country’s biggest games magazine, I ran a rainbow masthead in solidarity with our LGBTQI community during Australia’s marriage equality campaign,” read a few of his personal highlights.
Game Informer Australia was started in 2009 after the success of the American version of the magazine. By the very next year, Game Informer Australia was already the best selling games magazine in the country. Amazingly enough, that milestone was reached after just seven issues. With the Australian version now defunct, the American Game Informer magazine will be sold in its stead. While Milner still urges readers to continue their support of the magazine, readers will undoubtedly miss out on more localized games news with the magazine’s history of articles featuring Australian developers and their games.