Overview
- Tom Orry and Alex Donaldson announced Respec on Thursday, July 9, naming an initial team that includes editor Mikhail Madnani and contributor Rebecca Jones.
- Respec says it will publish news, criticism, long-form features, podcasts and video with an explicitly British voice and a strict 'no clickbait' stance.
- The founders left Gamer Network under Ziff Davis earlier this year after large editorial cuts that left VG247 with a greatly reduced staff.
- Respec will be primarily advertising-funded with optional paid subscriptions on Patreon and initial financial support drawn from the founders' RPG Site business.
- The launch joins a wave of small, independent games outlets that use freelance networks and reader revenue to preserve long-form coverage in a sector that Press Engine data shows lost about 25% of its journalists over two years.