While I empathize with the OP in general, this post is all kinds of puzzling. Firstly, if games journalism burned you out then you were never passionate about games writing. You were passionate about playing video games, and confused it for the other. They're two different things.
Secondly, a lot of times when people like something they confuse it for passion. Just wanting to do something or enjoying something doesn't mean it's your passion. My definition of passion is simple. When you're passionate about something, even the boring, tedious parts of that job don't feel boring to you. A couple years ago I took a position as a teacher in the city. The institute was two-and-a-half hours away from my home. So I'd wake up at 4am in the morning, stand in the bus for two hours, reach the class, teach two hours, and then grab breakfast. Oh, and I have severe motion sickness so the bus ride was less than fun. One unlucky day, I had 6 hours of classes without a break. So I was teaching in class standing for 6 hrs without breakfast.
And you know what happened when I came out? I felt no headache, no pain in my legs, no burnout, no frustration. Just a bit hungry. That's when I knew I was passionate about teaching. There have been many more such days, but I never feel burned out. While previous jobs wrung me out like anything. Find a job that does that to you.
Thirdly, following your dreams or your passion doesn't mean anyone should cut you any slack. No one forced you to follow your dreams, and people don't owe you anything. Yes, all of us should be kind and loving to others, but if you put out substandard content, people have every right to call it out. I'm an aspiring writer, and I'm following my dream. But if my story doesn't work, people will tell me it doesn't. And that's great, as long as they're not being assholes about it. Constructive criticism makes us better at our jobs. False compliments only breed mediocrity.
I hope I don't sound too harsh. Burnout is never a good thing, and you have my sympathy. It's just that I don't agree with the assertions and conclusions of your post. I hope you find a job you're happy in.