One of the pioneering video game websites, GameTrailers, has shut their doors.

Founded in 2002, three years before YouTube, GameTrailers was one of the few places where you could get high quality game videos and original content. However, with the growth of personality driven shows and the incredible rise of YouTube as a hub for all gaming, their place in the internet quickly became obsolete.

When they were purchased by Defy Media in 2014, the writing was already on the wall that GameTrailers could not remain under its current state. However, despite significant layoffs and re-branding, the company announced that it would be ceasing operations starting today.

A final post on their Facebook puts into perspective the impact GameTrailers had on the gaming industry.

After 13 years, GameTrailers is closing down today.
When GameTrailers was founded in 2002, internet video was a revolutionary concept. YouTube wouldn’t be founded for another three years; consumer live streaming was nine years away. Back then, online game journalism was still dominated by text articles and static imagery. The most prestigious coverage still happened in print. If you wanted to watch a show about video games, you had to watch it on a special TV station that had 10 shows.
GameTrailers helped change all that. Today, game journalism is dominated by video: trailers, live gameplay, Let’s Plays, and news shows. Now there are millions of hours of content available at any time on your PC, your game console, your TV, and your phone.
We’re proud we helped bring this world into being. That is the legacy of GameTrailers. We’re grateful to all of our fans who helped make us successful. Thank you for your continued support over the years. It has been an adventure.

The YouTube gaming community owes a major debt to the work of GameTrailers. Without their unprecedented access to gaming content and flashy programming that included retrospectives, previews and reviews, the Let’s Plays and gaming personalities we know today would not exist.

It is a significant loss in the gaming community and we wish that all those affected land on their feet.

About The Author

Ivan Favelevic is Blast Magazine's Associate Gaming Editor. He knows he would be a nobody in Westeros and is ok with that. Follow him on Twitter @FlyingBags to hear random thoughts on games plus some soccer and basketball rants.

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