The Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium

EGM COMPENDIUM UPDATE
3 days ago – Thu, Oct 01, 2026 at 11:54:41 AM

First and foremost, we want to apologize for the lack of communication over the past weeks.  We have been working to resolve problems with wrapping up this project and wanted to wait until we knew what the path forward looked like before posting an update to avoid creating more questions than we answered.  We understand that communicating clearly and openly is important, especially when we’ve already asked you to wait so long on a project that was successfully funded.

When we made our updates that the printer was found and the books were printing, we had paid an advance and were given a schedule that was acceptable.  Problems arose shortly thereafter, however, when we were told that the agreed price would be higher.  This caused production to stop, and we gave ourselves a short window to investigate alternative options.  We thought this would be a quick process since we had already spoken with other printers prior to selecting the one that we picked.

Unfortunately, the size of the project and what we needed – which includes not only printing but packaging and bundling services across multiple products – was beyond what we could get done quickly from a different source.  After examining the options, we determined that the best course of action to deliver the books as fast as possible was to stay with the printer we had originally selected. 

NEXT STEPS

We have paid the additional amount the printer is requiring and are moving ahead.  The next available print window is October 16, and we plan to do our next update on that date or shortly thereafter to show the books on the printing press.  After this, comes binding, packaging, and then bundling for the journey to our fulfillment center.  All these things will happen in quick succession and as each is completed, we will update backers with photos showing the progress. 

Going forward we’re going to be providing you with updates as things are happening and completed at the printer, the assembly, the shipper, and the fulfillment house.  Those are the big beats left on this project and rather than continue to provide dates that rely on third-parties that may end up being wrong and force us to backtrack, we’re going to be sending you information and images as each of these steps are completed. 

REFUNDS

As is our company policy, anyone who would prefer a refund to waiting can do so by reaching out to us via Kickstarter Messages.  We’re hopeful that you’ll give us the additional time we need but understand if you do not want to wait and would prefer to cancel your pledge.  Everyone who has requested a refund to date has been given one and this will continue up until the time the books ship.  If you made a request and have not received a refund please reach out to us through Kickstarter messages and we'll take care of it promptly.

JOSH & MOLLIE

Because of the lack of communication some in this community have attempted to push Josh and Mollie, the two who poured their heart, soul, and comprehensive video game databases into the project, for answers on where the books are.  Please know that Josh and Mollie are not responsible for the ongoing delay, were not privy to the back-and-forth with the printer, are not the ones who selected the printer, and at this point can’t do anything to expedite the process.  We’d ask all our backers to please refrain from acting like they do.  This is not their fault.

A WORD ON KICKSTARTER

Prior to starting this project, our first Kickstarter, we looked at a number of campaigns that had been successful but spent more time analyzing the ones that had – for whatever reason – failed.  We had a clear list of the things to do and not to do and went into it with the very best intentions to do it right.  We promptly found ourselves committing many of the same mistakes that we had vowed to avoid.  In almost every instance we had traded time in delivering the books for the opportunity to make a better product and fell into the trap of acting like your patience was inexhaustible.  It is not, and we know this.  What we did was a mistake of our own creation and one that we will never repeat. We are in a position to fulfill the campaign and will work to get everyone their rewards as quickly as possible.

IN CONCLUSION…

Again, we’re sorry that this celebration of something that meant so much to so many has encountered so many difficulties, and we take responsibility for the ongoing delays.  We’re committed to delivering exactly what was promised.  Our belief that this would be like publishing an issue of a magazine, something we have done hundreds of times, was quite simply wrong. And the delays are a result of this and our choices and we simply took way too much time trying to complete a process that, while complicated, should not have taken nearly so long.  We bear full responsibility for where we’re at.  We’ll work as hard as we can, get this to the finish line, and appreciate everyone who is there with us when the project is completed.

One final note: There are a number of people who have requested address changes or had other questions.  If you have not received an answer yet please give us a day or two and we’ll make sure each of these questions is answered in the order they were received.

EGM² comes to the EGM Digital Archive!
3 months ago – Wed, Jul 08, 2026 at 01:55:26 PM

Hello and thanks again to all our backers! Production on your physical rewards continues, and our partners have confirmed we’re on track to keep to the previously announced schedule. That means we expect to ship out orders from the West Coast of the U.S. by September 14th.

To help you pass the time until your book arrives, we’re delivering even more content to the EGM Digital Archive: Starting today, paid members can read and explore all 49 issues of EGM².

The #2 Name in Video Game Mags Is Here

For four years, EGM² served as EGM’s sister magazine—and it evolved greatly during that span. In the early years, EGM² offered much of the same kinds of content you’d find in the main magazine (minus the Review Crew) from many of the same editors. In essence, it was a way to take EGM biweekly: Readers could now get fresh hits of news, previews, rumors, and more twice a month. Over time, EGM² developed its own identity, gradually shifting toward strategies and tricks.

You can now explore all that extra gaming history on the EGM Digital Archive, indexed at the same level of depth as EGM. You can read full issues in the viewer, download them to browse offline, or jump directly into specific content using the links on each issue’s dedicated content page. EGM² content is also reflected in your searches now, too. If you’re seeking coverage of a specific game, franchise, company, etc., you’ll see results from both magazines side by side (though you can also filter to just one).

If you’ve yet to try out the EGM Digital Archive, it’s the perfect chance to hop in. You can access it at egmcompendium.com. As a reminder, every backer has a free account to access the Review Database and preview what the full Archive has to offer. Backers whose order included Archive access or paid for the (one-time) $10 upgrade can access the Archive in full and read every issue of EGM—and now EGM². Whether you have a paid or free membership, you’ll find the code you need to register your account in the Digital Downloads section of your BackerKit survey, which you can access by entering the email associated with your pledge at egmcompendium.backerkit.com.

We’ll be back with more updates for you throughout the summer, with additional content coming to the Digital Archive, more previews of EGM #265, and of course, the latest news on fulfilling your orders. Thanks again.

Another Quick Update on Shipping the EGM Compendium
3 months ago – Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 02:59:57 PM

Hello once again! After our last update we had a number of backers ask about how we would be shipping your packages once they arrive from the printer at our fulfillment center. Once we’re a little closer to the actual mailing we’ll have additional information on how to track your package (you’ll be able to), what couriers we’re using (it will be different depending on where you live), and if you’re in a tier that will receive rewards split into two separate shipments (and, if you are, know that we will be sending them at the same time).

Today, however, we wanted to address questions relating to how we’re packaging the books and other rewards to ensure they get to you in pristine condition.

To that end, we have been working with our printing and fulfillment partners to make sure that the materials we’re using to ship your books and rewards are tough enough to withstand the trip, and we’ll be using protective packing to protect the corners and edges of the book as well as wrapping everything in plastic to make sure there are no inadvertent scratches or defects.

Additionally, for those in the higher reward tiers, most of the printed items you’ll be receiving are being assembled into packaging being created especially for the shipment of your order. This way, we can make sure everything is snug and secure at the source and isn’t going to be re-assembled later once our fulfillment company receives the packages from the printer.

Now, all that said, we obviously cannot guarantee that someone won’t receive a box that has been mishandled in transit or is otherwise damaged. It happens. But we’re doing everything we can to reduce the likelihood that your package will arrive with defects. If that does happen, however, we are producing a extra books and rewards to make sure that if anyone has an issue with their shipment we’ll have replacement copies handy.

Our goal is to make sure that once the books and rewards begin shipping that you’ll be able to rest assured that everything you pledged for arrives in the condition that you expect.

We’ll have another update with a sneak peek at what’s in store for readers of EGM #265 as well as some future plans we have with the Digital Archive and EGM coming in the next week or two. Until then, thank you to everyone for your continued patience and support of EGM!

When you can expect to receive your physical copy of The EGM Compendium
4 months ago – Thu, Jun 11, 2026 at 09:04:23 AM

Hello, and thanks yet again to all of our wonderful backers!

Now that we’re moving toward the fulfillment stage of the campaign, we wanted to share some exciting specifics. So let’s address our single most-asked question—when your book will arrive—and start talking in more detail about our big EGM #265 stretch goal.

Shipping Timeline

Now that printing is underway on The EGM Compendium, we’re finally able to share a specific timeline reflecting the latest dates from our production and distribution partners. We wanted to pass those along to you so you have a clearer expectation of when your book (and other rewards will arrive in the mail).

Production on all physical rewards is expected to be completed by July 27th. Your orders will be shipped from the printer to our fulfillment center by August 3rd and be received at the fulfillment center by September 7th. Orders will then begin mailing to you by September 14th. Your orders will be shipped via the U.S. Postal Service from the West Coast of the United States. From that point, the amount of time it will take to arrive to you will vary based on your location.

Depending on your backer tier you may get more than one package from us to fulfill your rewards. This is because certain mailing classes are faster than others and we’re taking advantage of this fact. But there are limits on what can be included in these packages, so things that are not printed material (like the books and magazines) will have to go in a separate mailing. We’ll give you more details on this when shipments begin.

We know you’ve all been extremely patient, and we continue to appreciate that. We’ll continue working with our partners to speed up processes when and where that’s possible. We’ll share any further updates as we have them.

EGM #265

With The EGM Compendium off in the printer’s capable hands, we’ve been able to fully turn our attention to one of our most exciting stretch goals: an entirely new and special issue of the magazine. We want you to be surprised (and, if we do our jobs right, delighted) by EGM #265, so we won’t go into too much detail or post any preview pages today. But now that we’re entering the final stages of our work on the magazine, we did want to reveal some of the effort we’re putting toward this bonus reward.

EGM #265 will clock in at 100 pages, and while this is far from the numbers the magazine put up in its heyday, there’s one important difference. Unlike those original-run issues, #265 will, with the exception of the inside covers and back cover, not feature any ads. In other words, 95 of those pages will be actual content.

Across those pages, we’ve given EGM a brand-new redesign, deeply inspired by its history but refreshed to match modern expectations. Our goal was to make the magazine we’d be putting out today if we never stopped publishing. Don’t worry—we also worked hard to preserve the visual personality that made EGM fun to read throughout every era.

Putting together an entire redesigned magazine with just two editors would be an enormous lift. Good thing, then, that we’ve got some the best help in gaming history. More than two dozen former EGM editors and contributors have participated in the issue. (We’ve also enlisted the help of some other recognizable names from elsewhere in the world of gaming, so expect a few surprises on that front.)

In terms of the content itself, we’ve pushed to include sections and features from EGM’s entire history, mashed up into a suitably history-spanning format: Press Start, Five Lives, Take This Job, Gaming Gossip (featuring Quartermann, obviously), Trickman Terry’s Tricks of the Trade, the Gamer’s Choice Awards, the EGM Interview, Next Wave, Under the Radar, a cover story (even if our actual cover is our extra-special foldout art), the crossword, Grudge Match, EGM Retro, The Rest of the Crap, Commentary, and a Final World/EGM Roundtable hybrid, featuring editors spanning nearly the whole history of EGM. Oh, and we certainly didn’t forget about the Review Crew. We’ll bring you reviews of 29 games, 23 of which are in EGM’s classic three-person format.

Putting together this special issue of EGM has been a dream come true for us. We can’t wait for you to read it. As a reminder, every backer will get a digital copy of EGM #265. Everyone who purchased a physical copy of The EGM Compendium will get a print edition of the magazine along with their book.

That’s it for this update! Thanks again for all the love and patience you’ve shown and know that our small but dedicated team has been working hard to get this to you as fast as we possibly can. The wait is almost over!

The EGM Compendium Is Ready to Print!
5 months ago – Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 03:02:18 PM

Update on The EGM Compendium

We've received our updated test copies of The EGM Compendium, fresh from the printer. As you may recall from a previous update, the initial test printing revealed a few errors we wanted to correct before we began the full print run. We’ve confirmed that our revisions have been implemented. That means The EGM Compendium is officially ready to print.

The printer has added the book to its schedule to begin full printing and assembly of all your physical copies in May. We anticipate this process will take around 30 days to complete. Once printing is complete, your orders will be shipped to our fulfillment partner, where they will be forwarded along to you. We’ll share updates on timing as we proceed through these last few steps. But really, this is it! The wait is almost over.

Check Your Address Before It Locks

We’ll need to lock addresses on BackerKit in advance of printing. (BackerKit requires locked addresses to process manual exports for fulfillment, which we’ll use to verify our final counts and link each order to a unique ID to speed up packing and fulfillment.) We’re setting a deadline of a little over one week from today to make any necessary changes to your address. We will be locking addresses the evening of Wednesday, May 6th, U.S. time.

If you need to update your address, you can do so yourself in the BackerKit survey, which you can access by entering the email address associated with your pledge at https://EGMCompendium.backerkit.com.

Photos of Other Rewards

In addition to the new test prints of the book, we’ve also received samples of some of the other physical rewards that backers will receive, and we wanted to share some photos with you.

Here’s a look at the nine Review Crew bookmarks every physical backer will receive with their copy of the book:

EGM #265 with the special fold-out cover (though the inside’s not done yet!):

The silver-foil slipcase:

The standard size poster:

EGM #237, the "Lost Issue":

Cast Your Vote One Last Time

We’ll share more about what we’re working on for EGM #265 in future updates, but there is one feature in the issue we need your help with now. Previously, we asked you to vote on your favorite games of 2024 for inclusion in EGM #265. Given the timing of the new issue, it only made sense to also include your voting for the 2025 Game of the Year, too. So head on over and give us your vote.

Thanks again for all your support.