Final Cover Game Makers Mourn Loss of Game Informer

The creators of the last game to grace the cover of one of the world's longest-running gaming magazines have expressed their sadness at the publication's sudden closure. US-based Game Informer, which had been in print for 33 years, ceased publication earlier this month, with both its print edition and website shutting down without prior warning.

The horror game *The Casting of Frank Stone

was featured on the final cover of Game Informer. The game's developers told BBC Newsbeat they were "incredibly honoured" to have been chosen. GameStop, the owner of the magazine, has been contacted for comment.

*The Casting of Frank Stone*, a narrative, choose-your-own-adventure style horror game, is a collaboration between *Dead by Daylight

developer Behaviour Interactive and UK studio Supermassive Games. The title was the subject of an in-depth feature in Game Informer, with reporters visiting both teams to produce it.

"The team that we worked with was absolutely fantastic," said Traci Tufte, from Supermassive. "The coverage was wonderful and I'm grateful that I personally had that opportunity."

Game Informer was renowned globally for its frequent exclusive coverage of the most anticipated titles in the gaming industry.

Mathieu Côté, from Canadian studio Behaviour, said he felt lucky to be featured in the "legendary final issue" of the magazine. "It's sad news for everybody," he said. "It's such a tentpole of video game journalism... it'll be much-missed."

The closure of Game Informer has rendered its website inaccessible, meaning years of articles – including its coverage of *The Casting of Frank Stone

– are now unavailable. Some fans are taking steps to retrieve and store archived pages.

*The Casting of Frank Stone

is a spin-off, single-player game set in the universe of the multiplayer title *Dead by Daylight* (DBD). Mathieu explained that Supermassive, known for creating cinematic horror games featuring motion-capture performances, was the ideal studio for this collaboration.

He told Newsbeat that the hope is to introduce more people to the world of DBD, which is one of the most watched horror games on streaming platforms like Twitch, even if they don't end up playing the main game.

Previous reports have mentioned a possible DBD film project and other potential spin-offs. However, the gaming industry has experienced significant layoffs in the past two years.

Like dozens of gaming companies, both Behaviour and Supermassive have laid off workers. However, Mathieu insists that the "desire to explore new ways to grow the horror world is certainly not diminished".

"We need to make games and continue to have great ideas and invest in them," he said. "It's true that we are probably a little more cautious about the partnerships that we get into or the new projects that we kick off. We just maybe take a little more time to dot our i's and cross our t's."

Traci added that she hopes the industry "turns a corner soon." "I think doing more things like this, bringing more innovation, bringing more creative partnerships, that's certainly going to add a little bit of invigoration," she said.

Mathieu explained that *The Casting of Frank Stone

took around two years to complete – a relatively short time for a video game – due to Supermassive's "established pipeline" for producing narrative titles.

*The Casting of Frank Stone

is scheduled for release in early September. While both teams are remaining tight-lipped about whether there will be further instalments in the new spin-off series, Mathieu expressed his "ridiculous pride" in the result of the partnership.

"Because that's the whole point, right? We create these kind of things to give people an experience, to give people strong emotions," he said.