Say it ain’t so folks. Joystiq, a webblog devoted to covering all things video game related, and in fact one of the reasons I started The Outerhaven Productions, is indeed shutting down. While it was rumored (Recode) for a while that Joystiq was going to be one of the sites that would be impacted by AOL’s mass restructing, the staff of Joystiq didn’t let that impact them as they continued to do what they loved.
Joystiq started out in June 2004 as part of the Webblogs, inc. family, which was purchased by AOL back in 2005 in a 25 million dollar deal. Since then, Joystiq has gone through several changes and updates, however they never changed how they operated and make it a point to do their best to cover video games, the video games culture and is one of the long lasting sites to do so seeing that they’ve been around for 10 years now. In fact it was due to the efforts of Chris Grant, who at one point was editor in chief at Joystiq and eventually went on to form another video game related website, Polygon.com
Sadly it was mentioned back on January 27, 2015, that Joystiq was one of the sites that AOL was planning to close down due to under-performing properties. Of course AOL had nothing to do with that, right? Keep in mind folks that if Joystiq goes then there is a huge possibility that fellow sites; WoW Insider and Massively will also end up tagging along as they are part of the Joystiq family (and part of the AOL network).
While there had been some discussion on several forums and message boards to what was going to happen to Joystiq; Folding up into Engadget, or dissolving completely, either way nothing good would have come of this. And now I am sad to report that Joystiq has indeed been affected. Two hours ago, Alexander Sliwinski, former news content director at Joystiq has confirmed that Joystiq is no more.
Official: @Joystiq is no more. Got some talented people looking for work. Plz RT, pass to HR. LinkedIn staff list: https://t.co/pWHAmFH2JH
— Alexander Sliwinski (@Sliwinski) January 30, 2015
Yes, @Joystiq is shutting down. My love and thanks to who read and followed. This job is special, and it's not always because of the games.
— Sam Prell (@SamPrell) January 30, 2015
As one website gaming to another and from fellow video journalists to the former staff of Joystiq, thanks for all the good times and news you’ve provided along the way. We at The Outerhaven hope each and every one of you manage to find something and land on your feet. The sooner the better!
Joystiq, you will be missed!
Sources: Alexander Sliwinski, Sinan Kubba, Sam Prell
