The video game press is the various media organizations that cover news in the game industry. The majority of coverage is just game previews and reviews but, some do market analysis or interviews with people in the industry. Additionally, various press releases including announcements and sales milestones are covered by them. Some business journalists are in these media organizations providing analysis and reporting on financial results.
History[]
The earliest examples of video game press was the trade periodical, Play Meter, which started publication in 1974 and cover all coin-operated entertainment including early video games like Pong. The first consumer-oriented print magazine dedicated solely to video gaming was Computer and Video Games, which had its initial volume in 1981 in UK. Famitsu started circulation in 1986. Famitsu would do loose tracking of game sales through survey early in its run but, it would only do official tracking of game sales in 1996.
The media moved online by the late 1990s with the rise of sites like IGN. By the early 2000s, Circana released monthly reports which various organizations provided coverage on. Chart-Track provided with numbers to the UK gaming press for several years, first with ELPSA and then through industry magazine MCV UK. The latter website was eventually retired so, it released on press sites for various websites to report from now.
By the early 2010s, many major media companies have made their own gaming sub-brands but, most closed after 2020. Bloomberg has hired notable gaming journalists such as Jason Schreier and Takashi Mochizuki to do investigative reporting and analysis of major companies.
Notable organizations[]
- Famitsu
- Gamesindustry.biz
- Game Developer (formerly Gamasutra)
- VentureBeat
- 4Gamer
- Eurogamer
- Gamespot
- Gamesradar
- Giant Bomb
- IGN
- Kotaku
- Pocketgamer.biz
- Polygon
- Video Game Chronicle
Defunct[]
- 1-Up
- Game Informer
- GamePro
- Joystiq (merged into Engadget)
- USGamer