GamePro was an American magazine company that created print and online content about video games, game hardware, and game software. The magazine covered topics like different video game consoles, personal computers, and mobile devices. GamePro's media included the magazine and its website. The company was part of the International Data Group (IDG), a technology group that worked in media, events, and research. The magazine and its parent publication stopped operating in 2011, but the website, Gamepro.com, continued to function.

GamePro magazine first started in 1989. It published articles, news, previews, and reviews about video games, hardware, and the video game industry. The magazine was printed monthly, with its last issue in October 2011, after more than 22 years of publication. In February 2010, the magazine's layout was redesigned, and its focus shifted to cover the people and culture of gaming. Even though the U.S. operations ended, the magazine continued to be published in some countries, including France, Germany, and Spain.

Gamepro.com was launched in 1998. The website updated daily and included articles, news, previews, reviews, images, and videos about video games, hardware, and the gaming industry. It also allowed users to post reviews, join forums, and read blogs. In January 2010, the website was redesigned to match the new style of the print magazine. The website was based in San Francisco from 1998 to 2002 and then moved to Oakland, California, where it remained until 2011.

History and establishment

Gamepro was first created in late 1988 by Patrick Ferrell, his sister-in-law Leeanne McDermott, and the husband-wife team of Michael and Lynne Kavish. They worked from their homes in the San Francisco Bay Area until they rented their first office in Redwood City, California, at the end of 1989. After publishing the first issue, the team did not have enough money to keep growing, so they looked for a larger company to help them. In 1989, they partnered with IDG Peterborough, a division of the large global company IDG. A team from IDG Peterborough, including President Roger Murphy and two other executives, Jim McBrian and Roger Strukhoff, helped buy the magazine. Soon after, Gamepro became an independent part of IDG, with Patrick Ferrell as president and CEO. Later, John Rousseau became publisher, and Wes Nihei became editor-in-chief. Renowned artist Francis Mao also joined, helping make Gamepro a successful global publication. Francis Mao, as art director, hired Marc Ericksen to create the first magazine cover. Ericksen designed five of the first ten covers and later created eight in total. He also helped make the popular monthly "Pro Tips" section. The magazine had a monthly circulation of 300,000.

Over time, Gamepro moved its offices from Redwood City (1989–1991) to San Mateo (1991–1998), then to San Francisco (1998–2002), and finally to Oakland. In 1993, the company changed its name from Gamepro Inc. to Infotainment World to reflect its growing range of publications.

The magazine used comic book-style characters and names when reviewing games. However, in 2004, the magazine stopped using these avatars because of a new design. Instead, the editorial team continued sharing their voices through its online site, www.gamepro.com.

There was a TV show called GamePro TV, hosted by J.D. Roth and Brennan Howard. The show was shown on television for one year and later moved to cable networks (USA and Sci-Fi) for another year.

In 1993, Patrick Ferrell sent Debra Vernon, vice president of marketing, to a meeting between the games industry and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). She noticed an opportunity, and the team at Infotainment World started E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The industry supported E3, and Ferrell worked with the IDSA to produce the event. E3 became one of the largest trade shows ever launched.

Early in its history, the magazine included comic pages about a superhero named Gamepro. This character was a real-life video game player brought into a world where games were real to save it from creatures called the Evil Darklings. In 2003, Joyride Studios made limited-edition action figures of some Gamepro editorial characters.

Gamepro was also published in several international editions, including France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, and Greece. Some of these editions shared content from the North American version, while others only used the name and logo but had different content.

In early 2006, IDG Entertainment changed its focus from print to online publishing. It started building a large online network and rebuilding its editorial team. George Jones, an experienced industry professional, joined the team.

In February 2006, Gamepro's online video channel, Games.net, launched a series of video-game related shows. These programs targeted an older and more mature audience.

In August 2006, the Gamepro online team created a new cheats website, GamerHelp.com. Soon after, they launched Games.net, a site that gathered information about video games, and GameDownloads.com, a site for downloading games.

Under George Jones' leadership, Gamepro magazine was completely redesigned in the March 2007 issue. The new layout included more reviews and previews, HD game images, a community showcase on www.gamepro.com, user contributions, and insider news. However, the German Gamepro website was still run by GameStar, a partner company, as shown by a message on the site.

In 2009, Gamepro celebrated its 20th anniversary. That same year, John Davison, a 20-year industry veteran, joined the newly named Gamepro Media team as executive vice president of content. Under Davison's leadership, the magazine and website were redesigned in early 2010 to focus more on the people and culture of gaming. The changes were well received by readers.

In October 2009, the company also announced plans to grow through online media initiatives, including partnerships with sister company IDG TechNetwork to create a "boutique online network of sites." This led to the launch of the Gamepro Media Network.

In September 2010, Gamepro Media formed a partnership with The Escapist, an online magazine, to offer joint advertising programs for reaching a male audience. The partnership was named the Gamepro Escapist Media Group.

In November 2010, Julian Rignall joined Gamepro Media as vice-president of content, replacing John Davison, who left in September 2010.

Gamepro stopped publishing monthly issues after over 22 years with its October 2011 issue. Soon after, the magazine changed to Gamepro Quarterly, a thicker, higher-quality publication released every three months. The first quarterly issue appeared in November 2011, but the project ended after one issue. On November 30, 2011, it was announced that Gamepro, as a magazine and website, would shut down on December 5, 2011. After that, Gamepro became a small section of the PC World website, covering the latest video games and managed by the PC World staff.

Content

In February 2010, the magazine had these main sections:

• Inside: A new table of contents page that listed the main articles and games in the issue.
• From the Editor: A column at the start of the magazine where the editor introduced important features or games in that month’s issue.
• Inbox: Reader feedback and a letter of the month. Art Attack: A section for reader-submitted artwork. The best art each month won a game-related prize.
• Editorials: Articles on different topics written by freelance writers and game industry professionals.
• Spawn Point: A section with behind-the-scenes game news, interviews, previews, and a calendar of gaming events.
• The Bonus Level: A short guide to "essential geek gear," including video games, books, and game-related items available online.
• Features: Articles about cover stories or games that needed special attention.
• Reviews: This section was first called "ProViews" and later renamed "ProReviews." Reviews were written by one staff member on behalf of the entire Gamepro team. At first, each platform (like PlayStation or Xbox) had its own review section. By late 2005, Gamepro changed this to one review per game, even if it was on multiple platforms, with separate scores for each version. In 2006, a feature called "Key Moment" was added, where reviewers described one standout moment from the game. This was later replaced by "Pros" and "Cons," which briefly listed the game’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Parting Shot: After a major magazine redesign in February 2010, the "Opening Shots" section was removed. "Parting Shot" changed from showing game art at the end of the magazine to reviewing the issue from 10 years earlier.

• Opening Shots/Parting Shot: The magazine used high-quality HD images and larger screenshots. "Opening Shots" was a new gallery of screenshots at the front, while "Parting Shot" displayed game art at the back.
• The Hub: A section about the Gamepro.com online community. It included reader reviews, new "Ask the Pros" questions, community leader profiles, and a feature called "Head2Head," which highlighted user feedback and letters. Every week, a new "Featured Member" was highlighted. "Ask the Pros" returned as an online version of user-submitted questions answered by editors. "Head2Head" also returned as a subsection in the back of each issue.
• Previews (formerly "Short ProShots" and "Sneak Previews"): A look at games in development, including expected release dates and details. When it first appeared, it was in the back of the magazine with limited information. In 1996, it moved to the front after the features section. At that time, Gamepro began labeling previews as "First Look" (based on limited information) or "Hands-On" (after playing an early version of the game). A "percent complete bar" was briefly used to show how far along a game was, but it was removed in 1999.
• Games To Go: Reviews and previews of games for portable systems like handheld consoles.
• The Sports Page: Previews and reviews of sports games. When it started in 1993, each review had a newspaper-style headline. By 1996, these headlines were used less often and eventually removed in 1999. This section was the first to use the "multiplatform game review" method in 2003.
• Role Players Realm: Reviews, previews, and walkthroughs of role-playing games (RPGs). Walkthroughs were sometimes split across multiple issues. During slower months for RPGs, the section included fantasy-themed games from other genres.
• Code Vault (formerly "S.W.A.T. Pro"): A section sharing video game cheats, strategies, tips, and secrets. Both game companies and readers submitted content. The best tip from a reader won a prize. The name "S.W.A.T. Pro" stood for "Strategies, Weapons, and Tactics." The section was renamed "Code Vault" in 2001 to match a spinoff magazine.
• Head-2-Head (formerly "The Mail"): A letters to the editor section. In 2004, a "Letter of the Month" feature was added, with the winning letter’s author receiving a prize. This section also included reader reviews from the website to encourage online participation. It moved from the front to the back of the magazine in 2007.
• Buyers Beware: A section where readers shared complaints about faulty games, hardware, or systems. Gamepro was the only magazine to include this. Occasionally, the section addressed broader issues, and company representatives sometimes responded to reader concerns. This section was written by the same editor, "The Watch Dog," since 1994. It moved to Gamepro.com in 2007 and was later removed from the print magazine.
• ProNews: The magazine’s news section. It first appeared after the reviews but moved to the front in 1996. Over time, it included "game watches" and a sidebar called "Static" that generated random quotes. "Gamepro Labs" later became part of this section.
• Hot At The Arcades: Previews and reviews of arcade games. This section was regular for about 5 years but became rare after 1997 due to declining arcade popularity. It was sometimes combined with ProNews.
• Overseas Prospects: A section for imported games, which was rarely featured.
• Video Game Survival Guide: Originally called "16-Bit Survival Guide" when the Super NES and Genesis were near the end of their lifespans, this section reviewed games.

PC Games

What was known as a "sister publication" to GamePro, called PC Games, was published by IDG until 1999. It began in August 1988 and changed its name to Electronic Entertainment in late 1993 and then to PC Entertainment in early 1996. The magazine returned to being called PC Games in June 1996. Its website, PC Games Online, was combined with other IDG websites, including GamePro Online, to create the IDG Games Network in late 1997. In 1998, the print version of PC Games was the fourth-largest computer game magazine in the United States, with 169,281 copies distributed. In March 1999, Imagine Publishing bought the magazine and shut it down. The April 1999 issue was the last one published. After this, Imagine sent former PC Games subscribers copies of PC Gamer US and PC Accelerator instead. According to GameDaily, this change was part of IDG's effort to focus more on the GamePro name. Coverage of computer games was then moved to PCGamePro.com and to the "PC GamePro" section of GamePro's print edition.

Australian GamePro

Australian GamePro was a video games magazine published every two months by IDG from November 10, 2003, to February 2007. Stuart Clarke was the first editor of the magazine. In January 2006, Chris Stead became the new editor. According to Chris Stead, the magazine’s sales increased by 100% between 2006 and 2007. However, the magazine was stopped because of changes within the company.

The Australian GamePro team created several special issues, including:

• Ultimate PSP Buyer's Guide
• Ultimate Nintendo Buyer's Guide
• Ultimate Xbox 360 Buyer's Guide
• Your Complete Guide to Online Gaming
• Australian GamePro Presents World of Warcraft