Hi y’all!
This year No Escape celebrated its four-year anniversary, which I guess means that I’m really doing this for real, no take-backsies. When I first started doing this, I made a promise to myself that if No Escape lasted to the half-decade mark, I would start treating it like a legitimate website and not just some side fascination I furtively attended to in the hours between work and sleep. Since it certainly looks like that’s where we’re headed, I’m going to keep my promise early.
https://patreon.com/noescapevg
No Escape has primarily been a labor of love, and it’s one that I’ve taken on by myself, even going as far as turning down people’s requests to work for me for free. But I’m not the only person to put their heart into this place over the years. If it wasn’t for the people who have contributed their words and ideas to No Escape, then… I don’t know! Maybe I’d feel like the site wasn’t worth it now.
I’m thinking about how Skeleton from DEEP HELL DOT COM has written three incredibly thought-provoking pieces about contentious video games in the past three or so years, with the most recent piece being a genuinely affecting and heartfelt look into Mass Effect 2 and grappling with gender and sexuality toxicity.
I’m thinking about how Alvin Meatman tried to shake us out of our stupor and tell any who would listen that chasing better, faster, more graphics was both stupid and deadly to the world we live on.
I’m thinking about Kyle Tam’s exploration of voyeurism and selling out; Taylor Hicklen’s reflections on genre and eulogy; Sam Greszes’s incisive examination of Twitter discourse that happened because of a bad interpretation of a YouTube video thumbnail.
These were just the posts made in the past year that I really loved, to say nothing of pieces like Farouk Kannout’s thoughtful NORCO essay, the work of Jeremy Signor, M. Lupetti’s interview with Konstantinos Dimopoulos, or Cassandra Roxburgh’s piece on Stardew Valley and anti-capitalism.
I have loved working with every single one of my contributors, and my main regret currently is that I haven’t been able to take on more or to work with these folks on a consistent basis.
This year is the year that changes.
The one thing that I do not want to do is promise that I’m gonna be able to reshape how capitalism does shit or how the media industry writ large handles its finances. But the constant refrain I’ve always felt super strongly about regarding No Escape is that if we’re going to have people pitch us, they deserve to be paid what they’re worth.
So we have some goals.
The first goal is to hit $100/month on Patreon. This is an exceptionally reachable goal as we’re only $27 away from it right now. Hitting $100 a month would allow us to reopen pitches.
The second goal is $300/month, which would allow us to not only reopen pitches, but also start working with critics and journalists on stories that aren’t just quick hits or reviews.
The final, ultimate goal is $500/month. Reaching this goal would allow us to reopen pitches, start working on beefier projects with writers, and possibly even revive No Escape Magazine.
In return, for just $3 a month, you get the satisfaction of knowing you supported independent games media – and also, Discord access! That’s pretty neat.
Thank you for reading this far. Linked here is a slide deck with the important bullet points listed out. I’d really like it if you shared this post, as well as my other posts on social media. I want to make 2024 the best year yet for No Escape, and I think I can do that with your help!