Thank you so much for being public about your Game File stats! It worries me to see so many layoffs happen in the games media space, and it sounds difficult to expand the reach of your platform even with how your work impressively ranks among other similar Substack publications. But covering games is important work, and I love hearing about the behind the scenes of game development. The actual companies don’t give us that much of a look to begin with! Good luck with Year 3! Maybe you could partner with other outlets in some way? Thisweekinvideogames.com has seemingly been successful as the website launched just last year. It would be great to see more independent media working together to ensure the survival of the landscape.
Thanks for your openness. You do great work. I had to pause my subscription for a while because of my schedule, but I am back now and very happy. In my opinion, your biggest competition is not other creators or price, but simply the limited time people have to read. The quality and value of what you do are beyond question. Good luck in Year 3.
BTW, who is the biggest gaming publication on Substack? I'd be interested to know.
Really appreciate the transparency here on subscriber churn and the economics of independent games journalism. The retention insight is so underrated in the newsletter space since everyone focuses on acquisition. Having worked on subscription models myself, that undertow of cancellations is brutel to manage even when content quality stays high. The freelance structure with the 24-hour revenue share is a clever way to align incentives without taking on unsustainable risk.
Congratulations on your second year Stephen, and even though you're not growing quite as quickly as you'd like, I am glad to see that quality original reporting is paying off for you! I've enjoyed your work since the Kotaku days and pleased that I now have the opportunity to support you directly.
For what it's worth, the other people I support in the games journalism space who have unique offerings:
Digital Foundry - second to none in technical analysis
Noclip - their documentaries are excellent
Second Wind - because Yahtzee never fails to make me laugh
If you're looking to expand your audience, maybe you could look to collaborate with some of these other independents on a story, if there's a way that makes sense? I discovered Game File via the Substack algorithm, but there's got to be more avenues than just that for promoting your work.
For a story idea: In 2026, we have a new (sort of) Halo game coming out. Personally I would love to see if you could get some of the current Halo Studios and ex-343 employees on the record about the struggles they've had shepherding this giant Microsoft tentpole. I would particularly be interested to hear from them (or anyone else under the Microsoft umbrella, really) what their thoughts are on the mothership's contract labour policies and how it has helped or hindered game development. In most of the (unsourced) commentary I've read about the last two Halo games, it comes up again and again as a big point of friction.
I truly miss the days where reporting online was good and at times great. I’m happy to support (now 2 years) for your continued work and hope you find ways to get more on board!
Congrats on another fantastic year! And really appreciate you being transparent with it all too. And very much appreciate that you are breaking rather than aggregating news.
I wonder if you’d be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Substack launching a proper gaming section?
Stephen, happy to be able to continue to support you as you head into year 3. Your work is great AND important, especially as you're breaking news no one else is, and there is less reporting of it out there, every day.
One idea I've have would be to talk to some academics that study video games and/or media both in general - opinions on the current state of gaming and games roles as media, but also with the changes in video game consumption over the last decade or so. And of course, their predictions for the future of the industry, and tyoes of games we are likely to see, especially with how AI may/may not play a part.
Thank you for the work you're doing. I cancelled my subscription as I just don't have the money for a monthly subscription of enough to shell out for a year.
My goal is to get there as I want to support as many independent outlets as I can for their work—Game File, ThisWeekInGames, Jeff Gerstmann, Mothership, and others.
Meaningful (and good) writing are happening outside the bigger sites (with some exceptions). They need support. And I think your work will continue to speak for itself.
GameFile has been my favorite newsletter week in and week out since launch. I think it’s obvious to say you do important reporting.
However, I’d also like to point out that your writing, and warmth throughout each newsletter is an equal blessing. I come for the news, but I stay to read your work.
Thanks for being open about all this. As an academic in game studies, it's really helpful to keep up on news and you always have such an interesting angle. I'm also just really interested in your business model and I guide students from game development and also communication studies programs into the digital world. Glad to be able to support.
Thank you so much for being public about your Game File stats! It worries me to see so many layoffs happen in the games media space, and it sounds difficult to expand the reach of your platform even with how your work impressively ranks among other similar Substack publications. But covering games is important work, and I love hearing about the behind the scenes of game development. The actual companies don’t give us that much of a look to begin with! Good luck with Year 3! Maybe you could partner with other outlets in some way? Thisweekinvideogames.com has seemingly been successful as the website launched just last year. It would be great to see more independent media working together to ensure the survival of the landscape.
Happy anniversary!!
Thanks for your openness. You do great work. I had to pause my subscription for a while because of my schedule, but I am back now and very happy. In my opinion, your biggest competition is not other creators or price, but simply the limited time people have to read. The quality and value of what you do are beyond question. Good luck in Year 3.
BTW, who is the biggest gaming publication on Substack? I'd be interested to know.
Simon Carless’ GameDiscover Co is bigger. But they are also a bit of a different business
Really appreciate the transparency here on subscriber churn and the economics of independent games journalism. The retention insight is so underrated in the newsletter space since everyone focuses on acquisition. Having worked on subscription models myself, that undertow of cancellations is brutel to manage even when content quality stays high. The freelance structure with the 24-hour revenue share is a clever way to align incentives without taking on unsustainable risk.
Congratulations on your second year Stephen, and even though you're not growing quite as quickly as you'd like, I am glad to see that quality original reporting is paying off for you! I've enjoyed your work since the Kotaku days and pleased that I now have the opportunity to support you directly.
For what it's worth, the other people I support in the games journalism space who have unique offerings:
Digital Foundry - second to none in technical analysis
Noclip - their documentaries are excellent
Second Wind - because Yahtzee never fails to make me laugh
If you're looking to expand your audience, maybe you could look to collaborate with some of these other independents on a story, if there's a way that makes sense? I discovered Game File via the Substack algorithm, but there's got to be more avenues than just that for promoting your work.
For a story idea: In 2026, we have a new (sort of) Halo game coming out. Personally I would love to see if you could get some of the current Halo Studios and ex-343 employees on the record about the struggles they've had shepherding this giant Microsoft tentpole. I would particularly be interested to hear from them (or anyone else under the Microsoft umbrella, really) what their thoughts are on the mothership's contract labour policies and how it has helped or hindered game development. In most of the (unsourced) commentary I've read about the last two Halo games, it comes up again and again as a big point of friction.
I truly miss the days where reporting online was good and at times great. I’m happy to support (now 2 years) for your continued work and hope you find ways to get more on board!
Congrats on another fantastic year! And really appreciate you being transparent with it all too. And very much appreciate that you are breaking rather than aggregating news.
I wonder if you’d be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Substack launching a proper gaming section?
Onwards and upwards for 2026!
I love the insight into your stats. Happy anniversary!
Stephen, happy to be able to continue to support you as you head into year 3. Your work is great AND important, especially as you're breaking news no one else is, and there is less reporting of it out there, every day.
One idea I've have would be to talk to some academics that study video games and/or media both in general - opinions on the current state of gaming and games roles as media, but also with the changes in video game consumption over the last decade or so. And of course, their predictions for the future of the industry, and tyoes of games we are likely to see, especially with how AI may/may not play a part.
Thank you for the work you're doing. I cancelled my subscription as I just don't have the money for a monthly subscription of enough to shell out for a year.
My goal is to get there as I want to support as many independent outlets as I can for their work—Game File, ThisWeekInGames, Jeff Gerstmann, Mothership, and others.
Meaningful (and good) writing are happening outside the bigger sites (with some exceptions). They need support. And I think your work will continue to speak for itself.
That was rambly, but thank you! Keep going!
Stephen!
GameFile has been my favorite newsletter week in and week out since launch. I think it’s obvious to say you do important reporting.
However, I’d also like to point out that your writing, and warmth throughout each newsletter is an equal blessing. I come for the news, but I stay to read your work.
Happy anniversary!
Thanks for being open about all this. As an academic in game studies, it's really helpful to keep up on news and you always have such an interesting angle. I'm also just really interested in your business model and I guide students from game development and also communication studies programs into the digital world. Glad to be able to support.