• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 24, 2016

There was once a time – let’s call it the 1980s – when all the cool kids were in bands and only geeks and losers played video games. My, how times have changed. Now, Wenner Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, is getting into video games with the impending launch of a new site, Glixel.

Spearheaded by Gus Wenner, son of Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, the new site will launch in October. The publisher is already putting out a weekly newsletter under the same name, according to The New York Times, which first reported the news.

Glixel is led by veteran video game journalist John Davison, who previously served as vice-president of programming at CBS Interactive and now holds the position of general manager at Glixel.

With a combination of articles, reviews, interviews and plenty of video, the new site and newsletter will focus on the personalities behind gaming and gaming culture, with special attention to gamers themselves, in addition to the people who make the games.

Content from Glixel will be published by Rolling Stone online. There are plans to cross-promote the new site across Wenner’s other media brands, which include Men’s Journal and Us Weekly.

News of the upcoming launch comes amid brisk continuing growth in the video game business.

In the U.S., total consumer spending on video games increased from $22.4 billion to $23.5 billion in 2015, according to figures from the Entertainment Software Association. Within these figures spending on video game software, the main revenue driver, rose 7% from $15.4 billion to $16.5 billion.

The rise of casual gaming has brought tens of millions of new players into the fold: according to one estimate 155 million Americans, or around half the population, play video games at least occasionally (including casual games).