Video Games Chronicle (VGC) is a British entertainment website covering video games published independently by 1981 Media. Led by editor-in-chief Andy Robinson, the team consists largely of formerComputer and Video Games staff. Launched in May 2019 in partnership withGamer Network,VGC sought to blend professional and mainstream publications to complement the works of othervideo game websites. The website received five million monthly readers and seven millionpage views as of December 2020, and has been twice nominated for Media Brand of the Year at theMCV/Develop Awards.
The gaming websiteVideo Games Chronicle (VGC) was launched on 2 May 2019,[1] led by former staff ofComputer and Video Games (CVG), including editor-in-chief Andy Robinson, news editor Tom Ivan, and editorial support from Paul Davies, Tim Ingham, and Chris Scullion. Additional content is written byfreelance writers.[2][3] The website is published independently through 1981 Media Ltd, whileGamer Network manages advertising and sales.[2][4] The team sought to launch a website immediately afterCVG's closure in 2015, but each joined different teams; Robinson worked atPlaytonic Games but "could never totally ignore the itch" to return to journalism.[2] The team found they were all available in early 2019 and created abusiness plan; Robinson felt it was an appropriate time in theconsole generation for a new website.[2]
Robinson sought forVGC to blend industry publications likeGamesIndustry.biz and "mainstream sites", covering subjects most relevant to consumers to complement the work of websites such asEurogamer,GamesIndustry.biz, andKotaku.[2] The website was built by 44 Bytes and run by Kornel Lambert and Andrew Taylor.[2][5] In April 2020, the site received 1.24million individual readers, generating 1.7millionpage views;[6] this increased to 5million readers and 7million page views in December, an annual increase of more than 400%.[7] Scullion was appointedVGC's part-time features editor in December 2020.[7]VGC expanded into video content with daily news showVGC Source from April 2020,[6] followed by thechat showVGC Off the Record from July.[8] In February 2023,VGC partnered with Stak to launch a weekly podcast, hosted byVGC's Jordan Middler, Robinson, and Scullion, and Stak'sPete Donaldson, alongside industry guests.[9]
VGC was the first to report onJapan Studio's reorganisation in February 2021,[10][11][12]E3 2021's in-person cancellation in March,[13][14][15] andTwitch's data breach in October.[16][17][18] In April, Robinson andVGC'sTwitter accounts were temporarily locked afterActivision submittedtakedowns using theDigital Millennium Copyright Act;VGC had posted stories about upcoming maps forCall of Duty: Warzone.[19][20]IGN reported that the leaks had been covered legitimately and Robinson andVGC'stweets had not contained any copyrighted material.[20] Robinson spoke with Activision and felt the conflict had been resolved.[20][21] Similar takedowns had been issued the preceding August against several outlets, includingVGC, who reported on leaks related toCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold War after the information had been officially announced.[19]Kotaku's Ian Walker said Activision's actions only confirmed the leak, describing it as an example of theStreisand effect.[21]
VGC was nominated for Media Brand of the Year at theMCV/Develop Awards in 2022 and 2023.[22][23] The site partnered with the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association to stream theItalian Video Game Awards to English-speaking audiences in 2022, receiving 92,000 live viewers;[24][25] the partnership continued in 2023.[26]
