Blips: Final Reaction

Source: Taking A Risk
Author: Stephen Winson
Site: re/Action

The news is about a week old, but if you hadn't heard, re/Action, the video game criticism website that aimed to provide a platform for voices not heard elsewhere and pay their writers well for the work they create, did not reach their crowdfunding goal before their deadline. This means that the re/Action project is not going forward since the editors would only have proceeded if they could pay their writers what they saw as a fair rate ($200 per article). In a sort of post mortem, technical editor Stephen Winson penned a look back at the re/Action campaign, thanking all involved and continued to advocate for decent pay for writers.

I was really hoping re/Action would succeed because I thought they were onto something pretty great. Yes, they did publish a piece of mine, but I'm not speaking out of self interest here. I wouldn't have sent them a pitch had they not impressed me with their initial batch of articles and inclusive mission statement about seeking minority voices and opinions. I was just excited to be a part of it. I'd also like to note that my experience going through the re/Action editorial process was quite pleasant, and the feedback I was given was tremendously helpful in focusing an article that I struggled to keep from digging too deep into several pools of minutiae. Also, like Bit Creature, which also went under this year, I thought re/Action's website was pretty and had some nice design touches that complemented the essays contained within.

If it's any consolation, at least re/Action is still online, which gives me the opportunity to read some of the articles that I never got around to checking out. I hope people remember the re/Action campaign in the future when they consider voids in games criticism, but hopefully not as a detraction from trying something similar; on the contrary. In their IndieGoGo video, Managing Editor Andrea Shubert referred to re/Action as a "grand experiment," and in that spirit, I think even the results of an experiment that didn't turn out as planned can be useful in continuing to test the original hypothesis. So, let's pour one out for re/Action, but then, let's raise our glasses to the continued pursuit of the ideals for which it stood.