Devastating news about Waypoint getting dismantled by VICE.
The more and more these layoffs happen, the more and more the talented reporters and writers get scattered to the winds [and financially pushed out of games coverage entirely], the more I start to worry.
Everything feels like it's shifting to a landscape of enthusiast influencers. I enjoy plenty of enthusiasts but it'll never be a replacement for real reporting or deep-dive writing.
Between this and the industry-wide shift to Nintendo Direct -style announcements, it feels like there is smaller and smaller room to actually interview developers/publishers and have them answer pointed questions. Publishers can just rely on enthusiast influencers to spread their press releases without having to be beholden to actual reporters. People in power are never obligated to answer reporters' questions anymore. Not even in a vague social sense, like being in the same room as them.
If I was one of these reporters and I had a family to feed, I don't know if I'd be able to risk staying in this industry. It's the same old cycle again and again.