There comes a time — sometimes early in the process, and sometimes a bit later on — when you realise that what’s on offer just isn’t cutting it anymore. And after a combined 40-ish years in journalism, we came to the conclusion that whether as a consumer or a journalist, the conventional model of news media was far too restrictive, unimaginative, and fickle to service videogame journalism adequately.
From SEO teams with zero area expertise and editors who can barely tell an edit plan from their elbow, to the practice of hiring content writers with ‘fire in their belly’ (a euphemism for ‘expect a pittance in terms of salary’) rather than actual journalists, the Indian media industry appears to be cooked.
Enter Story Mode.
An independent gaming and gaming-adjacent magazine run by journalists with an extensive background in the industry; its mission is simple: To tell stories about games, the people who make them and those who play them.
Among its key objectives are:
- discussing games beyond frame rates, ray-tracing and resolution;
- shining a light on the local (and near-local) gaming scene;
- covering gaming through a variety of interviews, analyses and opinions;
- highlighting issues that affect Indian gamers, developers and publishers.
Who we are
Karan Pradhan has worked in journalism across such beats as foreign policy, music, sports, and technology in the capacity of a reporter, editor, and desk chief. He has bylines in such publications as The Asian Age, Firstpost, The Diplomat, News9Live, Hindustan Times, Moneycontrol and so on. When he’s not playing videogames (or writing about them), he’s watching football, listening to heavy metal music or chasing his dog around.
Anirudh Regidi has been obsessed with gaming and PCs since kindergarten, and been writing about them since 2011. That obsession landed him his first job at Digit, then Tech2, and a freelance career that saw him working with the likes of AMD, Lenovo, MSI, Dell, and more. Cat-person or dog-person? Cats! (But dogs are a close second.)
Harsh Pareek has been a floater for about a decade, working as a writer and editor across desks including features, culture, politics, foreign affairs, and sports. A supporter of everything long-form, be it writing, Test cricket, Grand Tours, or even interstate bus journeys. He also loves history, football, films, and peace of mind.