Game Informer Australia Is Closing Its Doors

By Austin Wilson | @TheAustinPost1

The editor for Game Informer Australia, David Milner, took to social media announcing that the publisher will be permanently closing its doors after major cuts by EB Games.

EB Games made the decision after parent company, Gamestop, failed to find a buyer and is restructuring to minimize costs and increase sales.

"The owner of the magazine, EB Games, is making cuts because their parent company Gamestop recently failed to find a buyer after months on the market," Former editor David Milner said in a Facebook Post, "They're share price suffer. This is the result."

Game Informer Australia has been running since 2009 with Chris Stead as its launch editor. The publisher has published over 113 issues and sales increased over the past few years when David Milner took over as editor. During his tenure as editor, Milner won awards for Best Gaming Journalist and Best Columnist. He was also recommended for Best Gaming Coverage.

Milner mentioned in his post on Facebook that, although readership was up, ad sales had been on the decline.

"For the record Game Informer Australia still sold well; readership was up 19% over the last year," David said, "Recent ad sales, however, did not really reflect this,"

Gamestop has been suffering financially for some time now. The fourth quarter report released on Tuesday shows the company suffered a net loss of $187.7 million in its last fourth quarter. The company reported that hardware sale are down 9.8%, software sales are down 7.8%, and pre-owned videogame sales are down 21%. The company only saw an increase in accessories, collectibles and digital sales.

For the new fiscal year, Gamestop representatives said they "embarking on cost saving and profit improvement initiatives designed to strengthen the organization for the future and support long-term improved financial performance and profitability."

With the Australian publisher closed due to cost cutting initiatives, the Amercian version of Game Informer Magazine will be sold in Australia. Readers are speculating how long until EB Games forces the US publisher to shut down as well.