Although the gaming industry once had a thriving print media environment, this has all but disappeared in recent decades.
In fact, media analysts within the gaming sector have been decrying the “slow death” of gaming magazines and traditional gaming media for years now, thanks to a combination of the general decline of print media as well as the shift towards a 24-hour news cycle.
Although print media has been in decline across a range of industries and sectors for some time now, there is arguably something unique to its decline in the gaming world. Given that the gaming media landscape is dominated by a combination of lengthy development cycles for major gaming releases, a steady stream of development updates and a generally more ‘online focused’ target demographic, physical media arguably never stood much of a chance.
While print gaming media has been in decline for quite some time, this does not mean the gaming media landscape is in any kind of danger. In fact, quite the opposite is true.
Thanks to a growing network of websites, blogs, newsletters and various other forms of digital media, gaming fans have never had to look very far to access high-quality gaming media. This includes everything from industry updates to critical reviews and gaming news.
When it comes to finding news, however, there tends to be a focus among the major players in the gaming media space on updates related to big ticket releases, which capture the bulk of the media’s focus. For fans of more niche gaming sectors, however, what news options are available?
With this question in mind, let’s take a look at some of the options fans of niche gaming sectors have open to them.
Industry blogs
One great way of keeping up to date with all the latest in the gaming world, is to keep track of industry blogs.
Although this is true of essentially every sector or industry, it proves equally true of the gaming sector, where game developers will frequently make announcements through their own media channels.
If you are hoping to stay on top of all the latest news and developments related to your favorite game releases, developers or platforms, we heartily recommend subscribing to industry blogs. To simplify this process even further, you can even turn on updates or notifications for these websites to save you the hassle of having to check them every day. This allows you to be automatically notified when a new announcement is made.
For example, if you want to keep up to date with all the latest iGaming news, simply subscribe to the blog or announcements section of your iGaming developer of choice. This will help you to keep on top of news related to online casinos without the need to obsessively check and refresh their website.
Twitter feeds
Another underrated tool for keeping track of news is Twitter!
While Twitter often loses out to other social media platforms in terms of the number of users or the revenue they generate, for those in certain industries, it is an indispensable tool for keeping on top of current events.
This is particularly true for those following industry developments in the gaming sectors. Journalists will often make breaking news announcements from their Twitter feeds before writing up a formal or more official piece on the website.
By following the Twitter feeds of your favorite gaming or iGaming journalists, you can easily stay ahead of the curve when it comes to breaking news announcements. Best of all, the algorithms powering Twitter will ensure that only the most important Tweets make it through to the top of your feed!
New media forms: Podcasts, videos and the rest
A final but equally useful tip for sourcing breaking news in niche gaming sectors is to take advantage of the many new media forms available to you. This includes everything from podcasts and videos to other social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
Podcasts are particularly useful, as leading developers or PR representatives of important gaming and iGaming companies will often give interviews. More often than not, these interviews will contain exclusive insights and breaking news about your favorite titles or releases. Even better still, these often get overlooked by the mainstream gaming media publications, so stay sharp and listen in!
