If you're a fan of adventure games that has access to an internet connection, it's not wild to suggest to you've probably visited Adventure Gamers in the past.
Initially established back in 1998 (under the name Adventure Game Fan), the video game website has been around for nearly three decades now, and during that has offered some of the best coverage of the adventure game genre available on the net, including news, reviews, guides, and features.
In addition to this, it was also occasionally responsible for providing independent developers with some of the very first coverage of their games, even when more mainstream media outlets would pass on spotlighting their work due to the falling popularity of adventure games in the early-to-mid 2000s. Because of this, it was previously regarded by many as a beloved institution in the world of adventure gaming, and one of the few places that kept the fire burning during the genre's dark ages.
Those days, however, very much appear to be a thing of the past, with the website recently coming under criticism from adventure game developers including Dave Gilbert (The Blackwell Legacy, Unavowed, Old Skies), thanks to a recent change in ownership that has seen the company transformed into a website promoting gambling games.
On the "About Me" section for the website, the current owners now proudly state that Adventure Gamers has "expanded its coverage to include the online gambling sector" and that they "now provide unbiased reviews and news coverage for online casinos, sportsbooks, and emerging platforms in the iGaming space".
Meanwhile, on the home page, you'll find a bunch of articles about online slot games, like Da Vinci Diamonds Slot, Spartacus Gladiator of Rome Slot, and Triple Diamond Slot, which are essentially SEO grabs under the guise of "reviews" asking questions like "Who was Da Vinci?".
Reacting to this news, Dave Gilbert wrote the following about the change, "Really saddened over what Adventure Gamers has become. It was THE resource for adventure game news for almost 25 years. Seeing my first games reviewed there in the early 00s was the biggest thrill in the world. To see it turn into THIS is heartbreaking. Enshittification destroys everything.
"This site was the one of the only sites giving quality, thoughtful reviews and analysis of adventure games during the Dark Years of the early 00s. For this to happen now, when there are more classic-style adventure games being released than ever, is especially depressing.
"I understand that running a website is Hard™ and I don't begrudge the owners from jumping ship and selling, but did they have to sell it to THIS? Sigh."
He wasn't the only person to react negatively to the news either, with the Lamplight City and Rosewater director Francisco González, also commenting the following, "This is tragic, and on a personal note, having it happen after getting my first ever 5/5 review makes it even worse. RIP AdventureGamers".
Sadly, this isn't the only change the company has made recently either, which seems to be causing upset, with the new owners also deleting the Adventure Gamers forums all of a sudden, as spotted by another adventure game stalwart The International House of Mojo.
As The International House of Mojo notes in that article, though, while these new owners are busy undoing a lot of the goodwill the site originally built up, many of the people who made Adventure Gamers a brilliant place to visit have quietly left the site, building a new destination for adventure games called the Adventure Game Hotspot. This was started by the former Adventure Gamers editor-in-chief Jack Allin back in 2022, and seems to be carrying on the spirit of the website in everything but name.