AOL Inc., parent company of enthusiast press and videogame journalism site Joystiq, is closing several of its video game properties amid staff layoffs. Videogame press sites Massively and WoW Insider have been shuttered and, as indicated by Techcrunch the Joystiq brand will reportedly be rolled into technology blog Engadget.

The shutdown floated as rumors for almost a week before being confirmed January 30 by Massively editor-in-chief Brianna Royce, also known as Breetoplay, and in a tweet from Joystiq News Content Director Alexander Sliwinski.

Official: @Joystiq is no more. Got some talented people looking for work. Plz RT, pass to HR. LinkedIn staff list: https://t.co/pWHAmFH2JH

— Alexander Sliwinski (@Sliwinski) January 30, 2015

Joystiq was founded in June 2004 and has seen more than a decade of video game news. Also affected by the shutdown is the blog Massively, which covers broadly massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and multiplayer games. As is the blog WoW Insider, an enthusiast press blog dedicated to Blizzard Entertainment’s cultural juggernaut MMO World of Warcraft.

2010 logo for Joystiq

The shutdown of Joystiq has had a fearsome impact on the industry and community, especially editors of competitor weblogs.

News Editor Brian Crecente at Polygon expressed his disappointment at the shutdown of Joystiq by speaking to the nature of the industry and how gaming press has largely been seen as dominated by corporate interests. The rise of Joystiq, he contends, became the vanguard of the blogging revolution with other weblogs such as Kotaku and Polygon.

In his article, “Joystiq is closing and I’ll miss them like hell”, he wrote: “So a moment of silence then, not just for Joystiq, but for all of the sites that seem to be shrinking or dying. A moment to reflect on what would have been had not Joystiq helped usher in this age of gaming and coverage.”

With the closure, AOL will be laying off 150 people, mostly in sales.

As for this reporter, I say adieu Joystiq, Massively, and WoW Insider. You will be profoundly missed.

photo credit: IMG_2396 via photopin cc