GameTrailers has been shut down after over 13 years in operation, though the circumstances of the site’s collapse are controversial after the company failed to give its employees adequate notice.
The site announced its closure via Twitter, thanking its users for their support:
After 13 years, GameTrailers is closing down today. Thank you for your continued support over the years. It has been an adventure.
— GameTrailers (@GameTrailers) February 9, 2016
However, a post on NeoGAF from the site’s Associate Editor Ben Moore revealed that its staff had found out about its closure only a few hours before the announcement was made. Moore wrote: “I just wanted to confirm that GameTrailers is shutting down officially today. Everyone is being let go. We all found out mere hours ago, so we’re still reeling a bit. Sincerely, thank you all for the tremendous support.”
GameTrailers was ahead of its time in many ways, focusing upon video content before it became the driving force of gaming media. A staple of each E3, GameTrailers was known for being the destination for all the latest trailers coming out of the event, and later established itself as an innovator in original video content thanks to video series like Pop Fiction. But with YouTube steadily replacing it, even a change to a more personality-driven ethos failed to convince the site’s owners, digital media company Defy Media, to keep it going.
After making the site one of its properties back in 2014, Defy Media immediately began laying off staff, a trend which continued until last year. However, now they have officially confirmed that GT will be shut down, offering the site’s staff insufficient warning in the process. Hopefully these talented folks will each find a new job soon, and that their future employers will acknowledge their skills far better than Defy Media did.
