VG247

VG247
VG247 as of February 1, 2011
Web address	http://www.vg247.com
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Gaming Newsblog
Available in	English Italian
Owner	Videogaming 247 Ltd
Created by	Patrick Garratt[1]
Alexa rank	5,224 (April 2015)[2]

Videogaming247 (VG247) is a video game blog published in the United Kingdom, founded in February 2008 by industry veteran Patrick Garratt. CNET blog Crave ranked it as the third best gaming blog in the world.^[3]

History

Founded in collaboration in February 2008 between games industry journalist veteran Patrick Garratt and Eurogamer Network, VG247 was set up to be a news-only blog, the first of its kind in the UK to have a specialist games blog found among the likes of Kotaku or Joystiq in the US.^[1] At launch, VG247 did not review video games, focusing instead on news, interviews, and previews. Garratt was the only staff member at the time of launch, although grew in time with the addition of contributors Mike Bowden and Nathan Grayson.^[1]

In February 2009, the site relaunched with a new design, new features, and new Associate US Editor, former Gaming Today writer and 1UP.com contributor Stephany Nunneley.^[1][4]

In July 2009,^[5] newcomer Johnny Cullen was added to the site's staff line-up as its gamescom contributor, before becoming a full-time contributor on Mondays to the site afterward. In January 2010,^[6] he became Associate UK Editor to the site.

In January 2011,^[7] VG247 became the first video games site in the UK to provide full 24-hour news coverage with the hire of Brenna Hillier as its Australian News Editor.

In March 2012,^[8] VG247 began their push for original video content with the signing of Sam Clay as Video Editor. In July,^[9] Dave Cook was hired as UK News Editor after Johnny Cullen left the site. He was later promoted to Deputy Editor.

In January 2014,^[10] Industry vet Matt Martin was named editor in chief of VG247, with former editor and website founder Patrick Garratt moving into a full time publisher role. This appointment accompanied a third relaunch.^[11] In the months that followed, VG247 began a shift away from its earlier focus as a prolific news-centric service to a destination-style approach, with a greater emphasis on video and gaming culture, fewer overall posts, and lengthier content.

March 2014 marked the debut of the first non english edition of the website with VG247.it,^[12] opened in Italy directed by Stefano Silvestri, with Luca Forte as Editor in Chief and Alessandro Arndt Mucchi as Deputy Editors.

In July 2014,^[13] Dave Cook farewelled the site and games media in general. VG247 did not announce a replacement.

Staff

Editors

• Patrick Garratt (Publisher)
• Matt Martin (Editor)
• Stephany Nunneley (US News Editor)
• Brenna Hillier (Australian News Editor)

Contributors

Although many freelancers have intermittently contributed to VG247 over the years, at present Sherif Saed is the only regular contributor. Notable past contributors include Nathan Grayson, Stace Harman and Debrabata Nath.

Awards

VG247 has been nominated twice for Best Website and Best Online Blog at the Games Media Awards in 2008 and 2009. And while it did not win either in '08,^[14] it did win Best Online Blog in 2009, with Garratt winning Best Specialist Online Writer in 2009, having only been nominated in 2008. Garratt was awarded the Games Media Legend award in 2009.

The site was nominated for the Best Online Blog award at the 2010 Games Media Awards,^[15] but lost out to Rock, Paper, Shotgun. The site was nominated again for the Best Online Blog at the 2011 Games Media Awards.^[16]

References