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Giant Bomb bought out by CBS Interactive
Uselesswarrior
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Taken from http://www.giantbomb.com/news/premium-members-faq/4036/
What does everyone think about this?
Psst... Big changes happening at Whiskey Media. Don't panic. The answer to most of your questions are likely below. This isn't a goodbye post or a hey, thanks for joining us on this awesome journey, but we're outta here fabrication. It's a general trumpet call to let you know that we're working with two separate companies to build even bigger sites. For those of us at Whiskey, that means we'll spend all of about a weekend celebrating before we jump back to our jobs of building, creating and making you laugh. We'll make sure to keep you in the loop along the way.
Two companies?
Yes. We wanted to make sure our separate brands and employees ended up with companies that best fit their strengths. Here's the scoop...
Giant Bomb and Comic Vine are now in the same family as GameSpot and GameFAQs. The entire editorial teams from those sites are coming over, as is Dave. This marks a reunion of sorts as we’ll get to work with our friends over at GameSpot again. Giant Bomb will continue to operate as its own unique site.
Tested and Screened, along with all other things Whiskey Media are being acquired by BermanBraun. They've got big plans too, as you've likely seen on Tested already. Andy and his TOP MEN (our engineering team) are going to be busy building a whole slew of new sites that carry our mark of community first philosophies.
<snip>
Hey, this has me worried. I've seen others sites get purchased and become pretty crappy. What makes this different?
It's a valid concern. But if you've made it this far (let's be honest, some of you have been supportive of us for years) you know that beyond the logos on our sites are a group of people who have committed their lives to building a better Internet. Our sites will continue to thrive because quite honestly, it's what keeps a lot of us going every day. And as hokey as it may sound, we want to continue having an audience that trusts us as stewards of our respective expertise.
Continue to keep us on our toes. Now let's start building.
I have more questions!
I (Dave) will be around personally to answer all questions late tonight and throughout the weekend either on this thread or through twitter (@enemykite). As you'd imagine it's a busy day and I've still got to run to the city this afternoon to meet some peeps so thanks ahead of time for being patient as I go through your questions later today.
What does everyone think about this?
Hey I made a game, check it out @ http://ifallingrobot.com/. (Or don't, your call)
Uselesswarrior on
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I want to know what convinced Gerstmann and crew to do this. I missed out on the streaming announcement, so if anyone has the answer, I'd like to know. But if it's PR "well, we figured it was for the best," etc, it was probably actually money. Which, nothing is wrong with that, but I would hope they know what they're getting themselves into. And I hope they have clearly defined terms to operate the way they had been since the falling out.
I've heard about this joint interview/statement thing coming up later today that's supposed to zomg tell the real story behind what happened, but frankly I'm not holding my breath for that. I think it's damage recovery to reinforce this as being a good idea. Or as XoB put it in the industry thread, I'm sure they'll be candid!
Edit - By the way, how do you put a premium on news and review content / delivery?
And a reunion with the company that fired Jeff over posting an honest review. Can't say I'm happy about that.
In general I think have one voice in media is a "bad" thing, in the game industry as much as any other industry, so I can't say I am happy about this. Makes me feel like a dick for not subscribing, but I would have had they said they needed the money.
Jeff said quite a few times that they wouldn't even have considered CBSi if things still smelled like bullshit over there. CBSi has new management and they were receptive to whatever deal the Giant Bomb crew was after.
Rig up a track IR somehow so it looks like they're in the cockpit.
This is why it strikes me as kind of a bad idea. I'm sure Jeff remained friends with most of the editorial staff, but it's unlikely that's where the corporate pressure came from to let him go.]
So if CBSi is under new management, I guess it really depends on how willing they are to let GB remain independent.
Apparently they're also going to talk about what actually went down with "Gerstmann Gate," according to a tweet that was re-tweeted by Ryan Davis; that could be interesting.
No corporation has ever lied to get what they want, later screwing over the buyout-ee.
It feels incredibly naive of the Giantbomb folks. I hope they got something very explicit in whatever the signed that keeps control over content with them no matter what. If there are any strings attached, they will be pulled and Giantbomb will just be another shitty game site like the rest.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
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I was just about to say that I hope Gerstmann's instincts on this are right.
Vinny is premium content.
after what jeff went through, i'm sure they are being very thorough with contracts and what content they own the rights to. i bet they had lawyers comb through them to make sure they couldn't get fucked. and even in the DOOOOMsday event that they do get screwed over, so what?
they've shown they know how to build a site, and make content people want. if somehow giantbomb becomes something the main guys don't want to be a part of, they can go start over again (and people will follow). this deal is likely good news for them. they will have more money to cover more events and stories.
I wonder what qualifies as "extra videos." But that doesn't seem awfully compelling.
Random PC Game, where Vinny and Dave play old ass PC games.
Load Our Last Save, where Vinny and Drew load up Vinny's last save on oXbox games.
Jar Time, where Jeff answers questions.
Members Only All Day SNES Party! and other such one time events.
And much more!
This warrants raising an eyebrow or two...
Pretty much this. Best case, GB becomes an even better site. Worst case, we'll get a new site in a few years.
@Henroid - I bought a premium membership because they're one of my favorite sites on the internet. The fact that it has some cool extras is just sweet, sweet icing.
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You're right, they have, makes me wonder why they need CBS?
Gamefaqs is such a poorly put together site and I haven't been to Gamespot in years, but when I stopped reading it 7 to 8 years ago it was a cesspool.
Money. Giant Bomb has never generated profit. They've been able to stay independent this long thanks to the premium subscriptions.
The GiantBomb guys might not have had a huge number of options.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
$$$
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
However, based on how they've treated their radio and television properties, I would say that CBS seems to have a corporate culture where they buy successful properties and then don't fuck around with them too much. They don't try to fix what ain't broken.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Yeah, when they first announced the subscription thing, they were saying they were going to split the podcast so that one hour was members-only for a week or something like that. Fortunately they backpedaled on that.
I've been a happy subscriber to Whiskey Media since they started taking them, and I'm kind of sad to see that "family" broken up like this. I remain cautiously optimistic though.
My Backloggery
They've talked at length tons of times about the reason they feel their content is a cut above the rest in getting people attached to their site. Usually what Gerstmann has said is that they only cover what they care about personally, which makes all of their content have a sort of personal passion behind it. That's the plus. The minus is that sometimes a big game will come out that none of their editors give a shit about, and then they either won't cover it or the little coverage they do will be half-hearted and not particularly good. Sports games and JRPGs are the biggest example here. So, if you cared about 13-2 and wondered what they thought about it, really what you got was Brad playing maybe 5 hours of the game and saying "Eh" and then never finishing it.
But that's the trade off for having editors that really care about the shit that they write about on a level that coincides with they way their audience feel about games.
So I'm worried that they'll be forced by their new corporate overlords to start covering the Maddens and the Final Fantasies, big games that they do not care about but would be forced to cover at other sites. The solution to this problem is hiring editors that have the same attitudes about games journalism as Gerstmann and crew does but is also passionate about JRPGs or Sports games or whatever. If this doesn't happen but they are forced to cover these things anyway then I feel they'll lose what makes me care about their coverage, and then I'll be out.
With all that said, GB has earned the benefit of the doubt. I believe that they wouldn't have made this decision if they didn't think they could continue doing the stupid shit they do and cover the games the care about the way they do. So I'm still in, my subscription will stay active, but I hope they know what they're doing.
Hopefully they'll just hire someone (or two people) that love those genres. That would be a nice solution to that problem.
Exactly. And with the resources that CBS gives them, they can make that happen. That's the best case for me.
This lends to the concern that CBS won't let them remain autonomous if they're not pulling in profits.
I mean, that's the point of buying out a site like this, right? For CBS to profit from it. They're not doing it to be benevolent; to make sure that there is a source for unbiased gaming news that people trust.
No, they see a site that has a lot of respect among gamers that is on pretty shaky financial grounds and see an opportunity to do some footwork to have it pull a profit.
But the thing is that if Giantbomb isn't pulling a profit now, simply being owned by CBS isn't going to make them pull a profit and CBS isn't just going to pour money into a non-profit site without making changes and such that they see as getting to be profitable.
Long story, there's virtually no way Giantbomb is going to walk away from this deal unchanged. They are going to have to give up some autonomy, integrity, in order to be profitable. And, sure, maybe cynical, but it won't be long before they're forced to advertise games that are shit just to get money, to write "articles" about games they don't really support for ad revenue. Maybe it won't be long before there is a brouhaha with the editors where they quit and make another site.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
However, as a full-time cynic, I doubt this marriage will ultimately be good for the children.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
I for one hope that they understand that if Vinny goes, I go.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I think there is supposed to be another sort of unveiling in like 5 minutes?
Giantbomb turns into the old Gamespot, and Jeff sacrifices his job instead of his integrity, again.
I have absolute trust in him and his ability to make things work out. Whatever happens.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5