I really fucking loved GB's new lineup and overall content so this is unimaginably depresso. Like, what fucking cash flow are they saving on by firing two rinky dink video editors on the video content site? Are Fandom really that impoverished?
I always liked Jess and Jasons contributions to the shows, so this sucks to see happen.
Maybe in the future, there'd be a chance for some lab coats to be broken out of the closet and for 3 ex-GBers to do some fighting game science.
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Well, I finally did it. I canceled my subscription. I'd been a subscriber since it first became an option. And I'm good through October. I'll keep listening to the podcast up through then, but after that, who knows.
SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
So this news made me go look at the GB channel and I watch a lot of summoning salt and Dan teaching Grubb to beat Tyson looked interesting. I thought Dan was joking when he said he was the 67th fastest Tyson runner but he totally is. That’s pretty impressive and I had no idea he was speedrunning.
While Jess wasn't my favorite on the site, nobody deserves to lose their job like this. Just absolutely shitty news and I'm sure this isn't the last of these kinds of announcements.
Pretty safe to say the site is done at this point. I hope Dan and the Jeffs ride the bomb into the ground ala Dr Strangelove.
I always liked Jess and Jasons contributions to the shows, so this sucks to see happen.
Maybe in the future, there'd be a chance for some lab coats to be broken out of the closet and for 3 ex-GBers to do some fighting game science.
Unfortunately it seems like Ben has no desire to be in front of a camera full time again. He'll do a random Jeff Gerstmann Podcast or Voicemail Dumptruck or Abby Twitch stream, but that's it.
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I saw the news on Reddit. I haven't been a subscriber for ~ 9 months now, and I stopped listening to the podcast around the same time. I'm really disappointed for Jeff Gr., Jess, and Jason. I liked all three of them quite a lot, and none of them had anything to do with me losing touch with the platform.
I have a feeling that any chance of me coming back (however unlikely it was before) is now 0, however.
I know everyone has said 'hey don't fantasy book people's jobs' in the past, but my biggest pipe dream is for everyone to re-unite under a Nextlander network or something.
Have people show up as guests on eachother's stuff and pool it into one place? Not necessarily under the same name or even as a regular thing, just as a 'family of brands' or whatever.
I know it would probably not work out for many reasons, but that's my totally selfish best-case outcome.
I like everyone GB has ever hired and it really blows that this keeps happening. Since Jess was hired and the 'core roster' was relatively stable for a while I was really enjoying GB again - things were looking up.
If they aren't all together in a van doing pirate radio broadcasts and solving mysteries by this time next year I am going to be very parasocially devastated.
If they aren't all together in a van doing pirate radio broadcasts and solving mysteries by this time next year I am going to be very parasocially devastated.
I'm still holding out for everyone working out of Gerstmann's garage. Once he gets it cleared of course.
I feel like Jeff and Nextlander need to, you know, stabilize their userbase before they think about bringing people back on. It'll be a bad idea for Nextlander to bring in another full timer if they just going to continue to lose subscribers month over month.
Nextlander got a huge bump from the Gerstmann stuff, but they've mostly burned it off and ended the year at roughly what they had at the start of the year. They manged to end December with nearly at many users as they started December with, which is good, but whether that will sustain the next few months is anyone's guess.
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
Yeah the big questions wrt old GB folks banding together into one big organization is a) who the fuck is going to pay them and b) are they or aren't they better off with individual paetrons.
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
Giant Bomb came up in a time when the "internet personality" was barely a thing, and they were in many ways pioneers of what we see today. But in some ways I think they got left behind as that kind of content progressed and while I think the format still works and is (for me) a lot of fun, I don't know how many new viewers they're drawing in. So I'm skeptical of them all getting back together under one banner for "Giant Bomb 2.0" or whatever.
It was 10+ years of amazing content: reviews, videos, podcasts, live streams, and probably a whole bunch of shit I don't remember right now. But I don't think we'll see anything quite like that again.
Nextlander got a huge bump from the Gerstmann stuff, but they've mostly burned it off and ended the year at roughly what they had at the start of the year. They manged to end December with nearly at many users as they started December with, which is good, but whether that will sustain the next few months is anyone's guess.
I hope they can sustain
it's pretty much the only gaming thing I watch these days
That said, the chemistry of the old crew, especially Jeff and Vinny playing off each other so well, is something I miss dearly. This industry is *dumb*
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SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Someone on reddit linked to a clip from a stream Jeff did answering questions today and he was asked about Ryan's death and whether he thinks they still would have hired Dan and Jason had he not passed. His answer was no, and in fact the site was probably going to die in a few months but Ryan's passing generated so much interest in the site that the CBS execs took more notice of it. Crazy.
That's wild. They had only been owned for like a year and change when Ryan died. Just crazy that Jeff was thinking the site wouldn't even survive two years after getting bought.
1) Why was chat asking such a weird and callous question about hiring Dan and Jason if Ryan hadn't died? (Also, longtime fans know the answer to this question, which would have been no: Dan was hired to replace Ryan, and I think Jason was hired when Vinny moved away)
2) I shouldn't be shocked or feel icky, but hearing that some suits essentially went "This guy died and so many people care: how can we monetize this?" isn't great. It's not exactly what happened (from what I can tell in this clip) but essentially it made them realize how many invested fans with money there were in the GB audience, and I assume the rest of Jeff's sentence involves them giving GB more money to make everybody stay so that CBS could keep raking in that GB money.
CBS execs basically monetized grief and realized "Oh, people care about these guys we bought, maybe we should give them more money and manpower/budget/etc instead of treating them like second class"
In the longer video, Jeff mentions Ryan had convinced him to stay shortly before he died, which really makes me think Ryan was going to stick with Jeff wherever he went, he just wanted Jeff to stay at GB with him. So I wonder what would Jeff and Ryan leaving CBS AGAIN to form Arrow Pointing Down 2.0 would have looked like. Would they have gotten in on the early Patreon gravy train like Kinda Funny, who Jeff has openly expressed respect for?
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
Also as much as I’d like to see the gang back together, none of them want to have to be “the boss” again and have to manage a company where they are responsible for people other than themselves. I can see everyone guesting on each others stuff, and id love that, but i think thats about All we’re going to get.
I only rather casually follow Giant Bomb, but it seems odd to me with Jeff leaving the site he didn't throw in with the Nextlander guys. Watching their content on a very, very casual basis it feels like they're greater than the sum of their parts.
I don't think Jeff minds being the boss/decision maker, just that he doesn't like being in that position when he's also being pressed down on by folks from above
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
I only rather casually follow Giant Bomb, but it seems odd to me with Jeff leaving the site he didn't throw in with the Nextlander guys. Watching their content on a very, very casual basis it feels like they're greater than the sum of their parts.
Throw in with them how? They’ve established their model and have a business with (presumably) three partners.
It’s clear Jeff had his own ideas of what he wanted to do.
can you feel the struggle within?
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
I'm pretty sure Jeff is making more money on his own than if he joined nextlander and had to split everything four ways.
I only rather casually follow Giant Bomb, but it seems odd to me with Jeff leaving the site he didn't throw in with the Nextlander guys. Watching their content on a very, very casual basis it feels like they're greater than the sum of their parts.
Jeff is pretty popular on his own (one of the biggest names in game journalism at one point) so the question becomes would the number of people he could attract on his own, and get all the money for, be more or less than a quarter of whatever the final total of the theoretical Gerstmann and Nextlander show's profit would be.
Keep in mind a lot of those subs are likely users double dipping on both shows so while nextlander has a little under 10k and Jeff has a little over 5k, there's no guarantee they'd be doing 15k together.
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
I bet the number would barely be north of 10k and it’s not like people would have upped their sub levels just because Jeff was there.
I’m sure they’ll end up doing crossover stuff at some point but it wouldn’t have made sense for either of them.
It continues to be incredibly disheartening just how much GB's fate is at the whims of a bunch of suits who couldn't care less about it. What are the odds that Jess and Jason were let go because some exec at their new owner, who doesn't know a thing about them, saw three people with basically the same job title, and impulsively decided, 'They can probably get by with one of those'.
My sub is up in June. I've had premium for nearly a decade. I think, like a lot of people here, I'm going to download what I want from the archives and be done.
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Medical costs don't cost your employer anything. That's kind of the point of business-level insurance.
However, if he had to take more sick days that may've counted against him (but that's definitely illegal because of disability protection, right??? lol)
I only rather casually follow Giant Bomb, but it seems odd to me with Jeff leaving the site he didn't throw in with the Nextlander guys. Watching their content on a very, very casual basis it feels like they're greater than the sum of their parts.
Jeff is pretty popular on his own (one of the biggest names in game journalism at one point) so the question becomes would the number of people he could attract on his own, and get all the money for, be more or less than a quarter of whatever the final total of the theoretical Gerstmann and Nextlander show's profit would be.
Keep in mind a lot of those subs are likely users double dipping on both shows so while nextlander has a little under 10k and Jeff has a little over 5k, there's no guarantee they'd be doing 15k together.
The Gerstmann $15 Tier! All Gerstmann, all the time! For a limited time only at Nextlander!
When Grubb was talking in his stream today he was pretty adamant that it was cold, spreadsheet calculations by higher ups slashing a bunch of departments. It really wasn’t well thought out at all from his perceptive.
But they're not just going to go make Giant Bomb 2: Electric Boogaloo
Sure, but I think it's okay to talk about what people miss about GB (mostly the interplay between personalities), and when people mention that Nextlander is barely scraping by, why not think about what could change to bring more people in, or where they might be a year or two down the line. Them joining forces would only really make sense if they were on the same coast, so they could maybe have a small studio space to hang out in together. Because *that* is where the magic happens. Also Jeff is way, way better at the social media game than Nextlander (Vinny and Brad don't even really have a presence). With a proper space and strategy, I could totally see that making sense. Alas, NY and California make that impossible.
Worst case, Nextlander collapses and they end up in games PR, never to be seen again
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SixCaches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhexRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
Physical spaces cost a lot of money and don’t replace the costs of their home streaming setups, since those are never going away at this point. There’s no way there’d be a return on that kind of investment.
They’d need someone with a significant amount of money willing to invest to make that happen with a plan on how to make enough money from that investment to make it worthwhile. It seems pretty clear to me that none of them ever want to have a boss again in that way.
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Maybe in the future, there'd be a chance for some lab coats to be broken out of the closet and for 3 ex-GBers to do some fighting game science.
What a bummer.
My Backloggery
Gutted. Hope Jess, Jason and everyone effected find something soon.
Pretty safe to say the site is done at this point. I hope Dan and the Jeffs ride the bomb into the ground ala Dr Strangelove.
Unfortunately it seems like Ben has no desire to be in front of a camera full time again. He'll do a random Jeff Gerstmann Podcast or Voicemail Dumptruck or Abby Twitch stream, but that's it.
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I have a feeling that any chance of me coming back (however unlikely it was before) is now 0, however.
Have people show up as guests on eachother's stuff and pool it into one place? Not necessarily under the same name or even as a regular thing, just as a 'family of brands' or whatever.
I know it would probably not work out for many reasons, but that's my totally selfish best-case outcome.
I like everyone GB has ever hired and it really blows that this keeps happening. Since Jess was hired and the 'core roster' was relatively stable for a while I was really enjoying GB again - things were looking up.
I'm still holding out for everyone working out of Gerstmann's garage. Once he gets it cleared of course.
Nextlander got a huge bump from the Gerstmann stuff, but they've mostly burned it off and ended the year at roughly what they had at the start of the year. They manged to end December with nearly at many users as they started December with, which is good, but whether that will sustain the next few months is anyone's guess.
It was 10+ years of amazing content: reviews, videos, podcasts, live streams, and probably a whole bunch of shit I don't remember right now. But I don't think we'll see anything quite like that again.
I hope they can sustain
it's pretty much the only gaming thing I watch these days
Clip can be found here.
My Backloggery
CBS execs basically monetized grief and realized "Oh, people care about these guys we bought, maybe we should give them more money and manpower/budget/etc instead of treating them like second class"
In the longer video, Jeff mentions Ryan had convinced him to stay shortly before he died, which really makes me think Ryan was going to stick with Jeff wherever he went, he just wanted Jeff to stay at GB with him. So I wonder what would Jeff and Ryan leaving CBS AGAIN to form Arrow Pointing Down 2.0 would have looked like. Would they have gotten in on the early Patreon gravy train like Kinda Funny, who Jeff has openly expressed respect for?
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Don't know if it'll ever happen, though.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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Throw in with them how? They’ve established their model and have a business with (presumably) three partners.
It’s clear Jeff had his own ideas of what he wanted to do.
Jeff is pretty popular on his own (one of the biggest names in game journalism at one point) so the question becomes would the number of people he could attract on his own, and get all the money for, be more or less than a quarter of whatever the final total of the theoretical Gerstmann and Nextlander show's profit would be.
Keep in mind a lot of those subs are likely users double dipping on both shows so while nextlander has a little under 10k and Jeff has a little over 5k, there's no guarantee they'd be doing 15k together.
I’m sure they’ll end up doing crossover stuff at some point but it wouldn’t have made sense for either of them.
Jeff is better on his own anyway, IMHO.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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I know we all miss Giant Bomb 2008-2020
But they're not just going to go make Giant Bomb 2: Electric Boogaloo
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My sub is up in June. I've had premium for nearly a decade. I think, like a lot of people here, I'm going to download what I want from the archives and be done.
Jess I have no idea on, other than yeah, less video editors I guess. Totally not something you need on your video website.
Also Jason with his medical costs might cost more, but also he's remote, so...
Don't they expect people back in an office soon?
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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However, if he had to take more sick days that may've counted against him (but that's definitely illegal because of disability protection, right??? lol)
The Gerstmann $15 Tier! All Gerstmann, all the time! For a limited time only at Nextlander!
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Sure, but I think it's okay to talk about what people miss about GB (mostly the interplay between personalities), and when people mention that Nextlander is barely scraping by, why not think about what could change to bring more people in, or where they might be a year or two down the line. Them joining forces would only really make sense if they were on the same coast, so they could maybe have a small studio space to hang out in together. Because *that* is where the magic happens. Also Jeff is way, way better at the social media game than Nextlander (Vinny and Brad don't even really have a presence). With a proper space and strategy, I could totally see that making sense. Alas, NY and California make that impossible.
Worst case, Nextlander collapses and they end up in games PR, never to be seen again
They’d need someone with a significant amount of money willing to invest to make that happen with a plan on how to make enough money from that investment to make it worthwhile. It seems pretty clear to me that none of them ever want to have a boss again in that way.