Hey folks,
Hope you’ve all had a good summer and are ready for the fall cool down like I am. I seriously don’t think I can stand any more 90+-degree days this year.
Since I took over as editor-in-chief of Escapist in July, we’ve been experimenting with lots of different content and have brought more news into our mix of coverage to keep you informed about what’s going on in the gaming and entertainment industry. We’ve heavily expanded our coverage of video games beyond the biggest titles and into the world of indie games, running more reviews and interviews with developers.
In addition to our expanded coverage, we’re working on a lot of new original content series. Here’s some of the stuff we’ve got going on.
VIDEO SERIES
- The Joy of Gaming – Hosted by Nate Najda, The Joy of Gaming focuses on the hard work and passion of video game developers and celebrates what makes their work fun. Published every other Friday.
- 3 Minute Reviews – Various reviewers from The Escapist cover a wide range of indie games in quick and to-the-point reviews that are meant to feel like a friend is telling you about a game.
- Gameumentary – The documentary series shares the stories behind the games you play. We just released our Insurgency documentary series and are now working on a Darkest Dungeon documentary, due for release late this year.
WRITTEN SERIES
- In the Frame – Written by Darren Mooney, In the Frame aims to take a closer look at pop culture, digging a little deeper than a simple review into what makes a particular work so striking or interesting. Published every Monday and Friday.
- Table Talk – Previously Escapist Unplugged, Table Talk is written by Sam Nelson and covers new and notable board, card, and tabletop roleplaying games. Published every Sunday.
- From the Developer – Previously In Development, From the Developer lets game developers share their own stories directly.
- “NEW” Elijah Beahm is joining us to write “A Second Look,” a series that will provide fresh perspectives on games new and old. Published every Thursday.
- “NEW” “Don’t Miss It!” is a second column series from Darren Mooney that will be released every Sunday and will cover a TV series or movie that’s been overlooked and explain why it’s worth your time.
We’ve been adding a lot of new faces to our team of contributors to bring you all sorts of new content as Escapist continues to evolve. I’ve been looking back at the legacy of the site and how it offered new talent a place to grow and learn, and I’m happy to be able to continue that legacy.
I’m very happy with the work that our team has been putting out since I took over, and I’m excited to watch our community continue to grow and engage with the content again. We have even more new content planned for later this year that we’ll share when we’re ready, but my overall goal is to make Escapist an original content powerhouse again.
That being said, I’d love to hear your feedback on how you think we’ve been doing, what you’d like to see more of, and any suggestions you might have to continue to improve Escapist Magazine. We’ve been garnering a lot of feedback over the last few months on YouTube, and I’ve taken a lot of it to heart to actively improve the channel. I’d love to be able to do the same thing for the website. We want to work together with our readership to make this a place you want to come to engage with on a daily basis, so I’m open to hearing how we can improve things to make that happen.
Our parent company, Enthusiast Gaming, is currently doing some internal testing and experiments on their network of sites to modernize our ad solutions and fix long-running problems (like the video player). You may notice some changes and possible issues with the website during this time. Our editing team does not have control over this, so I apologize for any inconvenience. We’ll update you again when it’s all sorted out.
Thanks for taking the time to read this update, and stay tuned for lots of exciting developments from Escapist Magazine over the coming months.
Nick Calandra
Editor-in-Chief
PS: We have a newsletter now! Every Sunday get our original content dropped straight into your inbox via a nice and easy to read format. Sign up here.
From the Managing Editor
Hi readers,
Unlike Nick I’d be perfectly fine with summer sticking around for a few more months, though I am looking forward to Halloween and the lineup of horror-themed content we have planned for next month. I’ve been with the site since it relaunched last year, which has brought with it a whirlwind of challenges and changes. I appreciate everyone who’s stuck with us and hope to keep growing the audience along with our network of contributors.
I’ve been extremely proud to get to work with some new talent along with continuing series such as The New Mythology, which looks at the way popular characters and stories change over time and the impact they have on pop culture, and Escape from the Law, where we have lawyer Adam Adler apply his expertise to analyzing the news and portrayals of legal matters in entertainment. I’ve also personally enjoyed the chance to write more feature stories where I’ve been playing games and interviewing their creators to share the stories and ambitions behind new titles.
As Nick said, we’d love to hear more about what would make escapistmagazine.com a place where you want to spend time. If there’s any type of content you’d like to see more or less of, let us know in the comments or by emailing us at [email protected].
Samantha Nelson
Managing Editor
