Egon Spengler (aka Harold Ramis, rest his soul) once said the words: “Print is dead.”
Well Egon, you obviously didn’t know that Esports Insider was going to launch an esports magazine, did you? And not send an image of it along with the press release, so we had to use a picture of you in the article instead? Of course you didn’t, esports didn’t exist back then and you were too busy catching ghosts.
Anyway, our friends at media and events firm Esports Insider (ESI) and Latin American gaming specialists Latam Media Group (LMG) have announced their new joint venture: The Esports Journal.
This industry-focused magazine will be available in digital format and print and has been created to fill a gap in the market for long-form esports content in a print publication.
Three editions of The Esports Journal will be published in 2019. They can be picked up at ESI New York on April 23rd, ESI Hall of Fame on June 10th in Los Angeles and ESI London from September 16th to 17th (as well as Esports BAR Miami from October 2nd to 4th).
ESI’s content will be differentiated somewhat on The Esports Journal, providing more in depth and insightful looks into the world of esports compared to their news and features online.
“Maybe I’m being nostalgic for the days of reading Match magazine, and NME, but I do believe there is a space and appetite for an esports industry focused print magazine.”
Sam Cooke, ESI
“This is an idea we’ve toyed with for a while. We’ve been producing daily business-focused content on esportsinsider.com for close to three years now, and then after chats with our Buenos Aires-based friends at LMG, we decided to go ahead,” said Sam Cooke, co-founder and MD at Esports Insider.
“Maybe I’m being nostalgic for the days of reading Match magazine, and NME, but I do believe there is a space and appetite for an esports industry focused print magazine.”
Agustin Cikes, co-founder and COO at Latam Media Group, added: “At LMG, we are keen supporters of printed magazines; perhaps it’s as Sam said, I’m being nostalgic because it reminds me of when I read Wired magazine, or simply, the morning newspaper. What I do know is that it’s much more effective to take a magazine home or to the office rather than bookmarking a link.
“We’ve attended the most important business events in the esports industry, and one thing we noticed was that there was no specialised magazine focused on the industry. So here we are; about to launch a high-quality magazine with fantastic, exclusive content that reaches the most important executives of the industry.”
There have been attempts at print versions of esports media in the past, such as 1337 Magazine, but they haven’t prospered. We have a feeling that ESI, with its industry expertise and trade focus, will pull this one off. Good luck guys.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
