I’ve had this post in the drafts for a while and I’m glad I sat on it because 1) the original piece was kind of shitty in tone and content and 2) a much better thing has come up in the meantime that actually deserves y’all’s support.
So yesterday as of this writing, EGM NOW announced it would no longer be publishing daily features, effective immediately. This put a lot of freelancers in a really terrible position of either losing an income stream or being unable to bring folks interesting and relevant stories about video games from perspectives that don’t often get voiced. This is, obviously, not the good thing I mentioned in the first graf, but rather a very, very bad thing for an already fragile industry and broader media landscape. People working on in-depth reported pieces, spending dozens or hundreds of hours on game analysis or who simply had something interesting to say that was of interest suddenly just don’t have anywhere to publish.
In response, our neighbors over at Uppercut Crit put out a call for their next issue: four former EGM contributors could submit their pieces-in-progress with a guaranteed payout of at least $100 each.
This garnered some… we’ll call it criticism from someone who talks about the video game industry from the business side of things. I don’t really want to focus on that, because god knows I could go on for hours if someone let me about how shitty and tiered the media is… but anyway, the result of that nonsense discourse is that Uppercut Crit has received donations totaling ten times what they initially offered in total – over $4,000. And it’s inspired folks in the indie games media scene to let y’all know where else deserves donations. And so, here we are.
I just received my “stimulus check,” and I can think of no better way to spend it than by donating to these stellar sites:
RE:BIND
RE:BIND is a vital resource for anyone wanting to learn about the wide, wonderful world of small indie games. It’s queer-run and updates frequently. I’m pretty sure Emily and Mx. Medea never sleep. You can support them regularly by becoming a patron of theirs on Patreon or by following Emily at @CaravanMalice on Twitter and staying tuned for individual fundraisers.
Into The Spine
Into The Spine is… incredible. They are committed to working with new writers, and they publish one of the widest ranges of critical perspectives on the internet. Support them on Patreon. And if you’re wanting to get into games writing, I can think of no better place to pitch than here.
Bullet Points Monthly
Bullet Points Monthly is a zine that curates striking analysis about a single game each month. Some of the work they’ve done in the past includes issues on Kentucky Route Zero, Control and Anthem, just to shoot off a few examples. They consistently showcase the best writing around, and god, I’d literally kill for a site aesthetic as good as theirs. They’ve got themselves a Patreon, go support it.
DEEP HELL DOT COM
Deep Hell Dot Com is a place for, by and of video games. It is written by a Skeleton. Do you like Tim Rogers mixed with the spirit of gonzo journalism? This is it. They have a Patreon. (In all seriousness, this is a great site for critical looks at games and you should support your local Skeleton.)
Critical Distance… and A LOT MORE
To end this out I need to shout Critical Distance out, because this site and the folks running it are doing the absolute most to keep good games criticism in the popular conversation. Its archives read like a who’s-who of games crit, and it includes detailed guides on where and how to pitch if you’re a new writer. They have a bunch of info on how to support the work they do, including signing up for Patreon or making one-time donations.
And from their site we get a more complete list of where to send your hard-spending federal stimulus money to, or even just read:
But this still doesn’t begin to scratch the surface. No list of games blogs or websites worth supporting can ever be complete. Support anyone you can. Fuck corporate hegemony. Fuck capitalism. Stay home. Read good writers.