Independent, by design.
ArenaLaunch is a gaming magazine that answers to its readers and no one else. We were founded in 2020 on a simple frustration: too much games coverage reads like marketing. This is our attempt to do it differently.
A review is a promise.
When we put a score on a game, we’re making a promise to the person deciding whether to spend their money and their weekend on it. We take that seriously. Every game we review is played to completion — not previewed, not skimmed, not judged from a trailer. We score against a public rubric so you know exactly what an 8 means and what separates it from a 9.
We don’t run paid reviews, we don’t trade scores for early access, and we label anything a publisher gave us for free. If that costs us a few exclusives, we can live with it. Our loyalty is to the reader on the other side of the screen.
How we score
The Team
Founded ArenaLaunch in 2020 after a decade covering the industry for regional press. Believes a review is a promise to the reader, not a favour to a publisher.
Leads the reviews desk and the scoring rubric. Specialises in RPGs and immersive sims, and has logged more hours in save-scummable menus than anyone should admit.
Runs the news desk from Toronto. Chases studio announcements, patch notes and the occasional leak — always with a source, never with a rumour mill.
Writes the walkthroughs and systems breakdowns. If a boss has a pattern, Emma has already mapped it on graph paper.
Long-form and indie coverage. Interested in why a game feels the way it does, and in the small studios that never make the front page.
Covers strategy, roguelikes and anything with a spreadsheet under the hood. Reviews the systems, not the marketing.
Our Story
The first review
ArenaLaunch starts as a single-page blog run out of a shared flat in Toronto, publishing one honest review a week.
The desk grows
A news desk and a guides section join the reviews. The public scoring rubric is written and published — and we’ve stuck to it ever since.
100,000 readers
Monthly readership crosses six figures. We formally incorporate as ArenaLaunch Media Inc. and move into an office on Peter Street.
Still independent
870+ games reviewed, 11 people on the team, and not a single paid review. The mission hasn’t changed.