As established games outlets reduce their coverage, close or merge, independent journalism continues to create new ways for the industry to stay informed. The latest entrant is It’s called Vertical Slice, a trade publication founded by veteran games reporter Chris Kerr.
Kerr has worked in games journalism for 15 years, including roughly 13 years covering the trade and about 11 years at Game Developer, where he most recently served as senior news editor. He left that role at the end of last month to establish his own publication.
That move means exchanging the relative security of full-time employment for a business funded initially through his personal savings. Kerr says he managed his finances carefully over the past decade and is starting as a solo operator, limiting the venture’s immediate costs to his own salary.
Why Chris Kerr chose independence
Kerr believes independent ownership will let him pursue stronger journalism than may be possible inside a company whose commercial priorities belong to a publicly traded global corporation. He acknowledges that corporate backing can provide genuine benefits, including greater job security and a pension, but argues that fearless reporting sometimes requires working outside those structures.
“It is scary,” Kerr says of the decision. “I believe in it. I don’t know what else I want to do.”
The launch arrives during a difficult period for games media, a subject Kerr knows well through his years on the trade beat. RETROCADE will continue tracking developments across the wider arcade and games industry as new publishing models emerge.
A publication built around reporting
Kerr describes Vertical Slice as a home for “fearless reporting that inspires, informs and interrogates”. Its focus is deliberately narrow: news and original reporting rather than reviews, guides or an aggregation service.
He intends to publish breaking stories every day, an ambitious schedule that he frames as a continuation of the work he was already doing before launching the site. A newsletter will also provide subscribers with a summary of the latest articles.
The business model is similarly defined. Most of the site will sit behind a paywall and carry no advertising, while a limited number of articles will remain free each week. The exact subscription price had not yet been finalised when Kerr discussed the project, though he compared the concept with buying a newspaper from a local newsstand each day.
Free development resources and a future newsroom
Vertical Slice is planned to launch with a free library of design documents and pitch decks supplied by developers including OuterSloth and Kitfox Games. These resources will sit alongside the publication’s paid reporting.
Kerr also hopes the project can become a platform for people working in games to speak about misconduct, injustice and other problems affecting the industry. His longer-term plans include employing full-time writers, mentoring emerging journalists, commissioning freelance columns and publishing articles written by developers.
The eventual goal is a newsroom of five to 10 people, although Kerr says that scale is years away and depends on the publication becoming successful. In the nearer term, reaching break-even would allow him to reinvest in the site, bring in regular freelancers and potentially develop a podcast.
Can a paid trade publication succeed?
Kerr’s case for the project rests partly on the audience built through his previous reporting. Millions of people have read his work over the years, he says, and even a small proportion of those readers becoming paying supporters could allow Vertical Slice to cover its costs and eventually hire additional staff.
He argues that readers must decide whether they are willing to pay for journalism they value, particularly as artificial-intelligence aggregation and industry layoffs place additional pressure on media jobs. In his view, directly supporting trusted reporters is a straightforward way to help sustain original coverage.
The founder is realistic about the risks. If the venture fails, he jokes that he might disappear into the sunset and become a soccer journalist. For now, however, he sees the attempt as a way to build a more sustainable future for himself and create better career pathways for others.
That ambition extends beyond publishing articles. Kerr wants journalists to have careers that support ordinary life goals, including holidays, family and financial security, rather than enduring another decade without a reliable runway. He accepts that the plan is ambitious, but believes trying to build something better is preferable to remaining in an industry that cannot offer long-term prospects.
For readers interested in how specialist publishing and enthusiast communities evolve, RETROCADE’s arcade industry videos and arcade machine buying guide offer further coverage and practical context.
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