Former Kotaku writer is launching a new video game site Aftermath -Gudstory

four ex-My City The staff is launching a new subscriber-based video game and culture publication: Result, The website, which is now live, will be co-owned by Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Riley MacLeod and Luke Plunkett – all My City Mainstays who helped shape its edgy sound before leaving the site for one reason or another.

,[Aftermath is] “About the Internet and everything that came after it,” Jackson said in a recent interview with all four founders. Jackson elaborates: “I’m very interested in taking Result And the way we live now and the way capitalism and the Internet are really intertwined and the way we find self-expression, the way media is created, and the way we consume. Use the site to discuss. it.”

“I think video games are at the forefront of this,” Grayson says.

Plunkett says the group wants to bring a combination of skepticism – “a lot of video games are filtered through PR marketing nonsense” – but also talk candidly about the issues, games, and communities. this is the hope Result It’s so interesting that readers bookmark it and go back several times a day to see what’s new, whether it’s reported articles, reviews, or even things the staff sees. Just have 500-word posts, which they think is stupid. Some of the first stories included posts about video game unions, alan wake iiMcLeod went on a bike ride, and Starfield’s Coffee situation.

“We’ve really turned the idea of ​​blogging upside down,” Grayson jokes. (This may sound like a familiar pitch the verge Reader!)

It’s been a disastrous year for video game journalism. Washington Post shut down launcher (Grayson was removed, MacLeod left) Post In October), vice president shut down way pointand layoffs and departures at publications such as In Verseowned by tencent changed the fanfan-owned gamespot And giant bombAnd Dot Esports, DestructoidAnd the Escapist Parent company Gamers Group. Jackson was fired from his job vice president In October 2022. Plunkett wondered in his July goodbye post whether he should have left My CityWhich is owned by G/O Media, soon.

All of those publications have had to deal with the challenges facing modern-day online media: chasing SEO (for gaming outlets, this is often a focus on guides), adopting unstable social media platforms, shifting advertising revenues. to do, grapple with ownership turmoil, endure abuse and harassment from readers, and come to terms with the changes and devastation caused by layoffs.

And despite it being one of the best years ever for video games, there have been widespread layoffs across the industry. Some of the most successful studios have announced layoffs in recent months, including BioWare, Bungie, CD Projekt Red, Epic Games, and Niantic. Esports organizations have also cut jobs, including Activision Blizzard’s esports department and 100 Thieves.

Result This is the answer to all of them. “We are sports journalism and its results,” Jackson says.

The four co-founders won’t be the only ones working Result, The group says that Chris Person (who wrote for the verge) and Alex Jaffe will be featured contributors and the site will also work with freelance writers. (Jackson also wrote the verge,

Result It aims to operate on a different and, hopefully, more sustainable business model than the advertising revenue-based model that other online publications rely on. Instead, inspired by worker-owned outlets turncoat (which focuses on sports) and hell Gate (focused on New York City)Result Wants to build their business on subscriptions and take a simple approach to things to try to best serve the readers who are paying them directly.

Result There will be no writing facility only. There will be two podcasts, one of which will be a show about DC Comics hosted by Jackson and Jaffe, and Grayson is working on one Result Presence for Twitch.

The team’s current plan is to let people read two free articles per month before registering for Result Newsletter. If you sign up for it, you’ll be able to read two more free articles before you hit the paywall. (Plunkett tells me the team may be a little more flexible with that plan for launch.) Those who want to subscribe can choose from three tiers, which cost $7, $10, or $99 per month, including Each offers unlimited access to articles. And, the number of perks increases depending on what tier you pay for.

Result The Crew didn’t share specifics when I asked about its membership goals. “Internally we have that, yes,” Plunkett says. “Obviously there are business plans where X amount of customers means X amount of good times or bad times.” He also admits that he doesn’t quite know what to expect. “Since we’re flying into this like blind, we honestly have no idea. We will just have to wait and see how it will be when it launches.

As an employee-owned publication, the team gets to decide things like financial decisions, business decisions, how they grow, and what they prioritize. “I’m hoping that by getting people focused on this, we’ll have success that way,” MacLeod says.

And they believe in the model. “I think that’s probably the only sustainable way to do journalism,” Jackson says. “Even if it is difficult in the beginning, we will definitely find our audience. Surely there are another 30 people in the world who don’t want to go to a website that is 90 percent guides. They just want to read a normal person write about why they like or dislike something City:Skylines II,

I asked if they were worried about membership fatigue. All four made noises of agreement together. “Every second of every day,” says Grayson. “it is Anxiety,” Plunkett says. Jackson explains how people are happy to subscribe to Substack newsletters for $5 per month and get paid for it ResultIt’s “really like you’re maintaining a real media company.”

Plunkett equated the cost to what many of us were used to paying for a monthly magazine subscription or buying the magazine outright, though he acknowledged that “there’s a certain circular irony in that, in that video game websites have replaced almost every video game magazine. Finished it and now it is turning into magazines again.”

Even if they are concerned about membership fatigue, their overall optimism may be well founded; Other worker-owned sites have had recent success. turncoat was created by furious deadspin Employees, who felt that their former site was suffering under private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which owns G/O Media. deadspin The staff resigned in solidarity after G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller fired acting editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky.

“Three years in, we’re a pretty stable company,” said Jasper Wang, vice president of revenue and operations. turncoattells the verge, “We have provided secure jobs for all at fair wages for our employees. At a fundamental level, the company is performing very well.

According to public reports about its second year, turncoat said it has increased its revenue and been able to put more money into things like employee compensation, employee benefits and freelance expenses.

hell GateIn its first annual report, published in July, it celebrated gaining 2,500 customers – up from zero at the start – and average customer growth of 10 per cent month on month for the year. Max Rivlin-Nadler, A hell Gate Co-Founder/Employee-Owner, explains the verge The publication still sees steady membership growth and notes that investigations and “good sustained coverage”, not viral stories, drive membership. “Reporting has always been the easy part for us, which gave us an advantage over other media start-ups,” says Rivlin-Nadler.

Has also achieved success in games media remapA gaming publication founded from the ashes vice waypoint, “I’ve said that our audience always comes through,” remap Editor Patrick Klepec explains the verge, “It usually means supporting a charity for a good cause. But in this case, it was saying it loud and clear, they wanted the mission. way pointreborn as remapTo continue.”

Klepec says the company, which launched in June and has three full-time employees, has been able to match the salaries vice president, compensate people for appearing on their podcast, and pay freelance writers. He admits that he has been able to move the Waypoint Plus business vice president Helped promote them. But he also noted at that time remap He says his writing work, podcasting and streaming “pay my bills”. “This is what is made remap Success. I keep a clear eye on him. we added writing to remap Because this is what we wanted.”

Result The focus will be primarily on writing, and that could mean it will be harder to compete with other established outlets and individual creators on platforms like Twitch and TikTok. The recent setbacks the video game industry has faced probably won’t help either. Still, during our interview, I felt a sense of confidence ResultCo-owners of – in support of their capabilities, business model, and the gaming community.

“When I started telling people I was working on this project, I never felt more loved by the industry,” Jackson says. “It made me feel like journalism and the video game industry are both very important.” There’s a real hope for that, that people really want to create something new and different and something more sustainable.”