In western countries, niche gaming media, such as Kotaku, IGN, PC Gamer usually dominate the news coverage of this industry. Those media also provide in-depth articles on everything related to the gaming industry. Non-endemic media are typically less inclined to do so.
However, it’s changed lately. More media from outside the field are getting interested in exploring further. It could be because of the gaming industry will reach US$159.3 billion this year (2020).
Some of the big non-endemic media that already announced their investment in the gaming industry are The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Wired. Those publications want to give the gaming industry the same treatment they’ve shown on Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Their plan is to investigate this industry further, about its business and culture, to gain interest from gamers and non-gamers.
News: @WIRED is launching a new gaming vertical! Exciting stuff. Stay tuned for WIRED Games in October.
— Cecilia D’Anastasio (@cecianasta) August 27, 2020
Last month (August 2020), Wired Games was announced. It’s not the first time Wired tries to appeal to the gaming market. However, Editor-in-Chief, Nicholas Thompson admitted that gaming topic hasn’t been the focus since he returned to Wired in 2017. “I don’t know why they stopped it. There’d be an occasional story but not much. It was something that I thought, ‘Well given the importance of it to our culture, our society, it would be great to do more.'” Said Thompson, cited from CNN. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has been covering gaming companies’ finances for a while, but now they want to explore deeper. They launched an entertainment vertical called Screentime which includes gaming topic in April 2020.
The Washington Post today unveiled Launcher, a new section devoted to covering video gaming and esports. Debuting Oct. 15, Launcher will feature coverage and analysis of the people, companies, teams and trends that make up this rapidly growing industry. https://t.co/xbp4VmLC4p — Washington Post PR (@WashPostPR) October 9, 2019
The Washington Post also started their new vertical named Launcher last October. “For how much money it generates, it doesn’t get nearly enough attention. The audience is here for gaming. The value of these stories, the value of having more heavyweight outlets in the mix is going to be great. There’s a lot more stories out there that need attention. We’re a team of six. We can’t get to everything.” Editor of Launcher, Mike Hume said.
Feat image via Depositphotos
