So many great video game websites have died, it’s nice to finally see some new ones being born. The latest is called Aftermath, a subscriber-funded venture by former Kotaku staffers. Full disclosure: I worked with all of these people for years and they are amazing.
Co-founded by Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Riley MacLeod, and Luke Plunkett, Aftermath will be a website focused on video games and internet culture. Unlike most of the ones you already love, however, the media company behind it will be worker-owned and funded by subscriptions rather than rapidly evaporating digital ad revenue. Highlight Reel creator Chris Person will also be a featured contributor, along with developer Alex Jaffe and a bunch of other freelancers.
Do you miss the single-column blog scroll? Hate having your eyeballs accosted by ads for whatever junk you already bought on Amazon weeks ago? Want to see nothing but wall-to-wall good blogs? Aftermath is here for you. Here’s the pitch:
Aftermath is a continuation of the irreverent and hard-hitting journalism pioneered at Kotaku. The site will focus on breaking news, insightful criticism and analysis, and thought-provoking editorial on the cutting edge of life on the internet. In a tumultuous time for workers of all stripes, Aftermath will also report on labor issues in the video game, streaming, board game and journalism industries—issues which have impacted the co-founders themselves.
Subscriptions will run $7 a month or $70 for the year to get access to all articles and bonus podcast episodes. A $10-a-month tier ($100 a year) unlocks commenting and gives you the keys to the Aftermath community Discord server. It’s a business model similar to the one used by Defector, 404 Media, and Hell Gate, all great websites you may have recently decided were worth paying for.
Remap is another, helmed by former Waypoint staffers after Vice imploded and tried to shortchange laid-off employees on severance while paying executives giant bonuses. That outlet, which recently launched a website of its own, showed that even in a year of slashed budgets, continued layoffs, and head-scratching closures, the hope for a new way of funding good games media springs eternal. I’m excited to watch Aftermath do the same.
