AOL To Close Shop on Joystiq (UPDATED)

The decade-old gaming news site will reportedly be closed down.

UPDATE Jan 30, 2015: Massively confirmed that the sites will be shutting down on February 3, 2015. We wish everyone involved the best.

"This week, we learned our AOL overlords have decided that they no longer wish to be in the enthusiast blog business and are shutting all of them down. This mass-sunset includes decade-old gaming journalism icon Joystiq, and therefore, it includes us. February 3rd, 2015, will be the final day of operation for Massively-that-was." —Bree Royce


Joystiq has been around since 2004 and is a well-known source of news in the gaming industry. Late last night, tech news site Re/code posted that according to their sources, Joystiq is up for closure as "part of an extensive house-cleaning of its underperforming content properties that is taking place over the next weeks."

This morning, Joystiq's News Content Director Alexander Sliwinski posted about the news as well with the following:

"Hey, wait a minute... that's us! Well, we may as well handle this the same way we've been covering the video game industry for ten years.

"'We do not comment on rumor and speculation,' one staffer told us, wishing to remain anonymous, preparing for their lucrative PR career. Others are still trying to figure out next steps. Another anonymous staffer said, 'We're still working until we can't.'

"Sources tell Joystiq that the staff is aware of the closure, but corporate hasn't officially told them, so they are unable to acknowledge anything out of concern that it will cause immediate shutdown. We've reached out for more information. We will update, as we always have, when we know more."

It's currently unknown how Joystiq sister sites Massively and WoW Insider will be affected if the news is confirmed. We'll update as more unfolds and wish the best to all involved.


Ann "Cyliena" Hosler, Managing Editor

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