Another year that flew by at the speed of light. A year full of turbulence for the industry, sadly impacted by mass layoffs and other studio closures. We have also experienced twists and turns down here. So before we all kiss under the mistletoe, we wanted to make introductions (almost two years later, but better late than never), tell you about our favorites and disappointments, but above all give a quick update on the state of Gameblog.
A blink of an eye and here we are almost in 2024. These last 12 months have passed at dizzying speed, which have been marked both by the quantity and quality of the games offered. A five-star all-you-can-eat buffet, with a few spoiled dishes, where behind the scenes the chefs are thanked en masse while the big bosses count their tickets in packs of a thousand. A treat for the players, a massacre for the industry. Meanwhile, the media landscape continues its sad transformation, pushing historical sites to become unrecognizable. This probably caught your eye, Gameblog is no exception. Be careful, big block.
Google’s merciless law
More than ever in 2023, the life of a site is a fierce battle. A merciless fight against a boss straight out of FromSoftware’s imagination who would have gorged himself on steroids and amphetes. Valorous and talented fighters are lost, but we barely have time to mourn them before others are sent to the front. And from a height of 1.5 meters all wet, here I am suddenly on the front line, assisted by a Kikitoes who has all the build for this position, me (Tiny_Ellie) who can’t choose between a pancake and a waffle in a game Armed with rusty equipment that we wouldn’t want even at level 1, our little squad of merry men, ready to give their lives in the name of the sacrosanct “Passion”, tries as best they can to survive the clutches of this monster with indomitable patterns that change with each fight: the Google algorithm.
The media landscape has become a sort of giant Battle Royale: everyone competes on given topics to exist in Google Discover or else it’s guaranteed death. This involves lighter news, all the free games in the universe, the famous titles that everyone hates, us first, SEO (referencing) and all this panoply which is gradually killing the journalism with which we have grown up and the one we love. In recent years, the situation has deteriorated greatly, sources of income are falling apart, the combat is becoming more and more difficult as this infernal boss is nerfed with each update, and surviving is a perilous balancing act . More than ever, Discover exercises the power of life or death over a site and that is why few have the luxury of not playing the game. Gameblog, and the vast majority of our colleagues from all walks of life , is obliged to comply and we try as best we can to find a happy medium in all this mess, even if you don’t have the impression. We manage not to bombard the news feed with good deals, we don’t squeeze the announcement of a particular game into ten articles in one day, we won’t try to lure the customer with Twitch dramas etc. The problem is that if Gameblog survives today, it no longer lives.
What we want to change in 2024 for Gameblog
A few tests and a handful of previews, not always on time, and then they’re gone. There are no more editorials, in-depth reports, reviews of independent games, video content and yes also podcasts. The site ensures its sustainability and that’s it. This is largely what we want to change in 2024. Reconciling what is asked of us and what we would like to do will not be easy, but it is the fight that we have decided to lead in the middle of this battlefield where new traps are ready to blow us in the face at the slightest misstep. We’re currently just a small team trying to juggle everything that’s asked of us, but doing more in our current setup was impossible. In recent months, we have changed a few aspects internally to reduce staff fatigue and allow them to free up time to provide you with even more qualitative tests and more editorial topics. There’s still room for improvement, but it was an important first step towards the direction we want to take Gameblog.
In 2024, we want to dilute these imperatives linked to Google with more qualitative content. This will involve more editorial, tests going beyond the big mainstream releases, more interviews and meetings with developers, a more important place for the independent scene and in-depth articles. All that with five people is mission impossible. That’s why we’ll be looking for more experienced writers, like those with a fresh and new outlook, and partners to support us in this endeavor. Our “luck”, as a non-independent media, is that as long as the imperatives linked to the survival of the site are met, we have carte blanche. We intend to take advantage of this to welcome views from various horizons on our site. As for the angry subject, the headline, unless one day Google finally decides to value information over incentive, we are obliged to comply. We wouldn’t say it like that, we are looking for ways to soften everything and we regularly carry out tests, which are not always conclusive.
Last point, and then I finally shut up to let you, my comrades, speak, we also want to improve communication with what remains of the Gameblog community. Yes, we are a bit tryhards at heart. The change of the site and recent events have clearly broken the link between the team and you, and we sincerely regret this. We wanted to speak earlier, but more than throwing a bunch of figures at you that you don’t care about, we wanted to come back to you with a vision. Unfortunately, Kikitoes, the rest of the team and I were hit by a train. For six months, we tried to slow him down like a grimacing Tobey McGuire in Spider-Man to settle down and take stock of the state of Gameblog among ourselves, then with the decision-makers. We regret that this only happened at the end of the year, but better late than never. I would have liked this speech to be accompanied by news about blogs. We see pretty pens still writing in our columns and we want to promote them as they deserve. However, decisions made before taking up our position impact our vision of things. We are still looking for how to correct all of this in a fluid and intelligent way. We hope to be able to get back to the people concerned as quickly as possible.
To conclude, we apologize once again that this update from Gameblog arrives so late. We know it’s a lot to ask of you, but you have to wait a little longer. Nothing happens overnight. In the meantime, the whole team and I thank you for being there with us on Gameblog despite the ups and downs. We sincerely hope that you will be able to feel the changes soon. Thank you for reading us every day, for commenting, for simply being there.
We wish you all a great new year! Looking forward to seeing you in 2024 on Gameblog!