How ‘The Industry’ digital gaming magazine plans to float above the noise

Video games do not suffer from a lack of news coverage, and it’s not like we don’t have enough reviews. As sites like 1UP and GameSpy shut down, it’s clear that gaming media is a bit oversaturated with traditional websites. Only a crazy person would launch something like that today.

The people behind The Industry are not that crazy. The Industry is a new digital gaming magazine available now on iOS and Amazon’s App Store. It’s a bi-monthly virtual tome that will eschew the fast-paced coverage of Internet blogs for more in-depth features. Each issue goes for $4.99, but subscribers get two issues each month for only $2.99.

“We came to this not trying to be the guys who are best at news,” The Industry executive producer Sean O’Neill told GamesBeat. “We’re not going to be the guys who are best at reviews — there’s some great stuff out there for that. Really, we want to write the articles that we would want to read. That’s been the our guiding focus.”

The first issue, which O’Neill and managing editor Casey Ayers launched quietly last week, features a handful of articles from veteran game journalists. One article examines the historical significance of game magazines like Nintendo Power, and another tracks the success of cult-favorite Dark Souls.

Readers can check out small snippets from each article on the magazine’s website before subscribing. In addition, the subscription features a seven-day trial on iOS and a two-week trial on Amazon.

“[We’re bringing] in great writers and allowing them to write their dream pieces without having to worry about if it’s going to impact the advertising side of things,” said O’Neill.

Long-form features that The Industry will focus on struggle to find a place on an Internet designed to constantly distract and get you to click on the next thing. O’Neill and Ayers want to use the magazine format to slow things down and give readers the chance to absorb more information on one subject.

“Out of the gate, we’re trying to be a lot more specialized,” said O’Neill. “We’re targeting an older audience that grew up gaming — maybe as the years have gone on they haven’t been able to put as much time into it, but they’re still fascinated by the industry. We really want to hit, for a lack of a better word, mature gamers.”

The Industry‘s editors are currently assembling the next few installments, and they plan to make the third issue a grand opening of sorts. Jeff Cannata, formerly of the Totally Rad Show, will write a cover story. The magazine will also run an exposé on gaming public relations and a story about LGBT gamer communities.

They’ve built it, now they’re just waiting to see if the readers come.