Well, it’s OFFICIAL, Airsoft Action has retaken the pole position as BEST AIRSOFT MAGAZINE 2022 in the 12th POPULAR AIRSOFT PLAYERS CHOICE AWARDS today, and we are absolutely thrilled! Whilst every single member of the AA family has worked hard to earn this accolade! Bill nailed it in his acceptance speech, that’s reproduced here in case you missed it…
Airsoft Action has been around for over ten years now, and fully digital and free-to-read for over two years, and as we all know these have not been easy years, first with a global pandemic which continues to effect so many, and then with a violent and unnecessary war in Ukraine that has shocked, and sickened, the world.
It has also not been a pain-free transition from print to digital media either, and in many ways we are still learning just HOW MUCH we can do with our different publishing platforms and formats, but the truth is that we have assembled a fabulous team not just from our home in the UK, but from around the world, and this continues to grow as we add the right players to the AA LEGION.
With Red Cell as the new core of the magazine we have been joined by players like ourselves that care deeply about airsoft now and for the future. Like me they believe that airsoft can be an inclusive thing for all, whoever, and wherever you may be in the big wide world of airsoft.
These Legionnaires work diligently and with high levels of commitment and professionalism within their own local and national communities, but again, like the rest of us they share a vision that airsoft can be much, much more, a truly GLOBAL community, and by working as one we believe that bringing you stories from all over the world, from a truly international airsoft community, will educate and entertain you, the players that are the lifeblood of all things airsoft.
We hope that as 2022 progresses and games are fully up and running again that we’ll be able to add more players to the AA LEGION, and we look forward to hearing from you if you have a story to tell!
We also work very closely with the manufacturers within the airsoft industry too, and have built up many great friendships based on trust and professionalism. Airsoft Action works WITHIN the industry at many levels and although we would never, ever consider ourselves to be “the voice of airsoft”, we are ONE voice, and a voice that is listened to. Our industry relationships are VERY important to us, and we cherish every new friendship we make.
We’ve been proud to receive the POPULAR AIRSOFT PLAYERS CHOICE for BEST MAGAZINE before but we can assure you that every victory means a tremendous amount to us, and every time we win this award it’s just like the first time!
The global airsoft community is a strong one, and within that community there is a very strong media presence, and in fact some might say TOO much! But the fact is that each and every year that the voting takes place for these awards we know that we are up against some very strong, professional competition when it comes to the coveted “BEST MAGAZINE” category.
We have the greatest respect for all our fellow airsoft journalists, especially our colleagues at 0.20 who produce their magazine in different languages and different formats, but always with true excellence! We know that we are up against an industry legend when it comes to ARMS magazine, but that just makes us work harder to be the best that we possibly can!
This award IS immensely important to Nige and I on a very personal level, but is also massively important as a recognition of every single person that is part of the Airsoft Action Family, and a vindication of their knowledge, expertise, hard work and true commitment to create an online magazine each and every month, one that is of high quality in its level of reporting, and honest in its assessment of both new and existing airsoft products… with a fair amount of opinion thrown in too! I often say that I steer the ship these days, but without all of our fabulous contributors there is no engine room to drive us to new frontiers, and my thanks and respect goes out to each and every one of you that adds to the Airsoft Action story!
To conclude I would of course like to sincerely thank the POPULAR AIRSOFT team for the presentation of this award for “BEST AIRSOFT MAGAZINE 2022”, to thank all of our valued industry partners, and of course to say a HUGE AND HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all of you, our fellow players out there that voted for us!
Congratulations to each and every one of the category winners, we look forward to celebrating with you, and to the runners up… good job everyone, it’s recognition in itself to be nominated! We know that our friends and colleagues in the airsoft magazine world will be chasing us hard as we head towards the 2023 award, but rest assured the Airsoft Action Family will strive even more, will aim to create more and better content, and fight hard for our place at the top again next year!
