Game Informer has been a staple in gaming since 1991 which makes the news that the popular magazine has undergone massive layoffs shocking and disheartening for many. The news stems from a recent stint of GameStop layoffs that has effected an undisclosed amount of employees on a corporate level.
The world was first informed of this shocking announcement when senior editor Imran Khan took to Twitter to reveal that he was no longer with the company. More and more employees followed suit, including Game Informer’s Editor in Chief Andy McNamara:
I appreciate all the love. I see it. I feel it. I am trying to get things right with my people. I love Game Informer, its people and its readers more than any corporation could, and I will address all the issues when I can, but for now I need to focus on my GI family.
— Andy McNamara (@GI_AndyMc) August 20, 2019
As for GameStop, the number of employees released wasn’t exposed when news went live but an inside source close to Prima revealed that it was a significant loss and that many of the positions with promise of promotion have been eliminated entirely. He described the atmosphere as “bleak and confusing, suddenly I don’t know where we stand anymore.”
Following the massive reports of layoffs, a representative of GameStop gave a little insight into the areas affected in the name of renovation.
Another source at the company reached out to our sister site, GameDaily: “As part of the previously announced GameStop Reboot initiative to transform our business for the future and improve our financial performance, we can confirm a workforce reduction was implemented impacting more than 120 corporate staff positions, representing approximately 14% of our total associate base at our company headquarters as well as at some other offices. While these changes are difficult, they were necessary to reduce costs and better align the organization with our efforts to optimize the business to meet our future objectives and success factors. We recognize that this is a difficult day for our company and particularly for those associates impacted. We appreciate their dedication and service to GameStop and are committed to supporting them during this time of transition.”
With GameStop making several radical changes over the past year in order to regain its physical presence, the people that make up the brand continue to suffer. If a total metamorphosis doesn’t occur quickly, it could even be possible that we may not see GameStop around for the next generation of gaming as a retailer.
