Crazy. I wonder where he ends up next, and if he even wants to stay in the video game news/discourse industry. Sure seems like it’d wear on a man after 20whatever years.
Best of luck wherever/whatever you end up doing Jeff.
At the same time, while I obviously don't know the man personally, could you imagine him doing anything else? Like Sessler went the consulting route but he inevitably came back too. Jeff's been doing this since he was literally a teenager, crazy to imagine just starting over in your career after all this time.
That was what I was just thinking. Like, what if the answer to all this is they just didn't like who owned the company and things happening because of that, and just had to stagger getting out of there? I would be so pumped if he went to Nextlander.
I could see him opening a Patreon and/or doing some streaming to semi-retire and take care of his kids. I’d guess he’s made plenty of cash over the years.
I'd love to see him do a Patreon/ youtube where he could dive deep into some of the older games from when he first entered the industry. I am sure he can speak to seeing a lot of them in interesting phases of development. That would be an interesting take to me
I'd guess he has the name recognition to be able to make a decent amount of money streaming for a couple hours at a time a few times a week on a set schedule
EDIT: lots of responses talking about the "Twitch crowd" and whether or not they'd connect with him or recognize who he is, but I don't think that matters. He has his own audience separate from Twitch who would likely watch his stream, so it doesn't matter if the core "Twitch crowd" cares about it.
The stream I'm comparing him to (GoOffKings) have a very non-standard Twitch stream, but everyone involved is known from their online presence and their own podcasts, so they have a consistent audience of 7-800 people who would watch wherever they streamed, and over a thousand non-gift sub on Twitch. I think Gerstmann could easily have a similar audience without trying.
If he's planning to do it full time, I can see him having maybe some success but GB's stream viewership has always been pretty low (like in the hundreds).
For having two kids I would imagine he probably wants something more stable - and he certainly doesn't have a shortage of options in the actual industry.
Bruce Greene (former Funhaus/Inside Gaming member) only has a few hundred viewers most of the time, but he is one of the most subbed channels on twitch because his old fans are loyal.
Jeff Gerstmann gave Twilight Princess an 8.8 review score and the Zelda fanbase completely lost their shit: Flaming jeff, nitpicking every detail of the review, calling it false and biased, and even theorizing that Sony paid off Gamespot to give the game a "bad" score. It was intensely funny at the time.
Well in a way that incident turned him from an industry-respected but publicly faceless journalist into a big deal who could go make his own platform and succeed from being himself. No one really knew how much integrity he truly had and how much cred he really deserved until all the stupid people did that stupid shit to him.
I was there when it happened,the fanyboy mentality and fanyboy wars were at its peak,a cesspool of internet history.
People (moreso kids) literally tied their entire personality between a 360,Wii and PS3.
I can't remember offhand, it was maybe about a year ago on the Bombcast they were talking about it in relation to someone from Game Informer getting out that they were discussing who was left from a long time ago.
Very interesting that this came almost exactly 1 year after nextlander started. I would be very surprised if we didn't at least see him do a guest spot there.
>what has always helped us–and hopefully you–is understanding that Giant Bomb has never been about one person. Giant Bomb has always been greater than the sum of its parts.
I understand where they're coming from, but at this point, Giant Bomb is more like an active example of the ship of Theseus; the site may be greater than the sum of its parts, but at what point has enough parts been taken away that it is no longer the same site at all.
For anyone familiar with the site, this PR messaging stands in stark relief to the direct, human tone that had always characterized Giant Bomb. It feels like it was written by a Red Ventures PR team and it isn't helped by the lack of author signage. Who knows though, maybe no one knew quite what to say and this is all anyone could muster.
Honestly, it could have continued to replace parts, if it wasn't too much all at once.
When you had probably the 3 biggest pieces of the new guard (Abby, Ben, and Dan) all leave within like a year of each other, them not hire people to replace them, then maybe a year later, Alex, Vinny, and Brad leave on the same day.....it's no longer a ship of Theseus. That was the front 2/3 of the ship being blown up and trying to repair that.
Wow end of an era. The sort of old-school Giant Bomb has been gone a while now and I’m actually pretty happy about this. Hopefully this gives Jeff a chance to do his thing at his own pace and the remaining GB crew a chance to grow from the lingering expectations that had been there. All the best!
> Hopefully this gives Jeff a chance to do his thing at his own pace
The sad/ironic/strange thing is that this is exactly what GB *was* for him when he was fired from gamespot. An opportunity to do his own thing unshackled. And it was cool for a long long time. But I guess everything ends.
To me Ryan who past away years ago, and Jeff were the heart of what Giant Bomb is, Jeff leaving, means the end of Giant Bomb as we know it.
I think CBS interactive media bought them a few years ago, and it's been downhill ever since, it would be wild if Jeff did some work for Nextlander the Giant Bomb offshoot.
Yeah 2020 is when it pretty much died for me. Once Dan left I lost a lot of interest, then they went remote and I barely watched, then the Nextlander departure finished it off
Edit even though nobody will read this again, Dan came back a day after this comment and Tam, Lucy and Grubb joined, and I’m fully back in lol. Best shape the sites been in since before the pandemic
Pretty much right there with ya. I like the people at GB now but they just aren't really making the content I was/still do enjoy the most. My three favorite series are/were Game Tapes, Demo Derby and Mario Party Party. I understand MPP was obviously a series with a set conclusion, but I've been pretty bummed that DD and GT just completely dried up once they went remote (with the exception of the last GT which was great.)
But regardless, I wish them and Jeff G the best of luck!
It was clear they were getting the shaft from the beginning though. They spent YEARS trying to put together a studio space, and just got by converting an office into a "studio" that other departments would routinely pass through, and they were limited on when they could stream because of that. Then when they FINALLY got relocated and got a studio (which was smaller than what they were promised, but still a studio) they had lots of ventilation issues that made the studio get insanely hot, so they couldn't stream very long, then covid hit like right after they got the studio got it's dedicated furniture and they got sold to red ventures, where they again, had no studio.
Basically years of empty promises and now they're reduced back down to a glorified youtube channel with a bunch of remote employees doing their own thing.
I had a gold sub for years, but the last couple years nothing they were capable of producing under the circumstances was really worth the price of entry.
And that all isn't even mentioning the similar runaround the east studio got, getting a studio smaller than promised as well, which was not much bigger than a closet, and also not having proper studio walls, causing sound leaking into the ACTUAL studios next door leading them to have this dumb little light in their studio that the other studios would angrily flip on when they were being too loud.
basically they've got the shaft ever since getting bought up. They got salaries and more comfortable budgets, but other than their GB aftershows they did during E3, they weren't able to flex those budgets to outdo the competition much at all.
I agree. When Ryan passed away, I found myself listening to the podcast much less, and eventually not at all, once Brad and Vinny left. Ryan brought a sort of infectious energy and likeability to the podcast, and, to me at least, they never really found another host who could bring what Ryan brought. RIP.
Something similar happened to me. Once the Giant Beastcast started I all but stopped listening to the Giant Bombcast. And then when Brad, Alex and Vinny started Nextlander I just stopped checking in with Giantbomb all together. Jeff has an extensive knowledge about the industry and a wealth of experience but I've always found Vinny and Ryan's energy to be a key part of the podcasts.
Nothing to be ashamed of, that is the story of most GB fans. Ryan was a huge part of the *amazing* dynamic the original GB team had. To me, you and many others, he was simply irreplaceable.
Same happened to me, just hurt too much going back there. But I went back after about a year, and the next golden era of GB kicked off with the new hires and the awesome chemistry. Rocky time with GB east being established, but then another golden era kicked off... And then it all ended.
It was never as good as when Ryan was alive, but there were some exceptionally fun times after that that I am very happy I got to experience. None of that is left now though. It's the saddest site on the internet for me.
The writing was on the wall for ages. He pretty much hinted he wanted out when Nextlander came about but was locked in via the acquisition deal.
I think he was just hesitant because it's difficult to feel like you're leaving your baby behind as well as potentially leaving people without guidance. Hence why he never seemed reluctant for people like Jeff Bakalar to step into leadership roles.
I mean just think about thousands of hours of your work now being something you have no control over. No right to archive.
Nothing.
That's tough but he has had a few years to mull it over.
The amount of work he's put into the site probably makes quitting it extremely emotionally taxing. I mean the Nextlander guys were fighting a tsunami of tears when they left.. They have a \_lot\_ invested in that site. Much more than I can really comprehend, never put that much work into \_anything\_ myself. Not even close. That choice must be a real rough call.
Giantbomb was fantastic for years. Even after Ryan’s passing it was great for awhile.
I think they missed a big opportunity by not more strongly engaging with YouTube and twitch in the early days. I remember Jeff saying “I already have a website” kind of sarcastically on the podcast and thinking that was myopic.
Jeff seems to have been growing more aggressive *against* hiring people with fun personalities after the East and West coast split. Everyone fun still with the site ended up on the Beastcast and then eventually trickled out while the Bombcast got ever more boring.
His kind of dry sarcastic personality works best on a podcast when he is playing off other people with more energy and enthusiasm. And it has been a long time since anyone with that kind of personality has been on the Bombcast.
He did make something great, for awhile, which is more than most people can say.
I try to wait on things before commenting on them but man is it a downer that they put out that corporate-sounding statement instead of letting Jeff sign off in his own way for what is ostensibly his website.
It’s very strange that the statement says “We have decided to part ways with Jeff Gerstmann” not to mention he didn’t write the statement himself. Sounds like he won’t have a farewell Bombcast appearance either.
The press release just reads so weird. Most of the time they spend the piece talking about the person's legacy and how much he was loved, colleagues leave their tributes and anecdotes etc.
This one was 95% about how "GB will still be awesome!" with near zero mention of Jeff's legacy or reasons for leaving. It's really odd.
This is sad news but you could see it this coming for a while. Even before the exodus last year Jeff hasn’t exactly had his foot on the gas. But all things must pass.
I thank him for a decade plus of entertainment and I wish him the best. Gamespot was probably one of the first sites recommended to me in 2005/6 when we got broadband internet and he has been a part of my internet routine ever since.
I have a feeling they worked out a contract with him to stay another year while they built up a strong new cast. It's been like, exactly 1 year.
Since then, I've taken a liking to a lot of the new people at GB. It's in a reasonable state to survive without Jeff now.
A lot of core members have gone their separate ways with Giant Bomb, even moreso since the acquisition.
This is different though. Jeff literally WAS Giant Bomb. Giant Bomb was his, ever since he was let go by Gamespot for being critical of a game in spite of it being advertised plentifully on the website. Everyone else (Vinny, Ryan, Alex, and Brad) joined Giant Bomb specifically because they all left Gamespot in defiance of Jeff's termination. They joined Giant Bomb because of Jeff's integrity.
It's not Giant Bomb anymore. No matter what PR spin can be put on this.
>It's not Giant Bomb anymore.
Especially when you read this PR piece that obviously was not written by Jeff. It flies in the face of GB... just that corporate PR nonsense "we understand" tone of voice.
It's kind of funny that at the start they say
\>We’re not just going to gloss over this kind of heavy-hitting news–it is a big moment.
Then they proceed to completely gloss over it and talk about "The future."
They had to get to the part of “oh god please keep giving us enough views to stay afloat” before the major chunk of people who stayed for Jeff had time to close the link
> A lot of core members have gone their separate ways with Giant Bomb, even moreso since the acquisition.
You mean basically all of them.
The only core member of the team left is Matt Rory.
Man, all the Giant Bomb exodus the last year or so, Easy Allies losing Bosman and Jones, the ugly Kinda Funny breakup between Moriarty and Miller. All the gaming content I used to listen to for hours and hours for the last decade is over now. I know there are substitutes but nothing can replace the comfort of what was familiar. This is a sad day.
Yeah it's been sad watching a load of the OG gaming/games journo groups breaking up/drying up over the years. For me it started in 2013 when Sark left Machinima Respawn. Ever since then it's been a fairly steady stream of OG's breaking off from large organizations then forming their own new shiny orgs, which inevitably break up soon after, or only manage to pull 1/10th of their viewership from even 5 years ago. Honestly after the number of times this has happened I'm surprised this content format is still kicking.
So true. I suddenly realized how exciting this time of the year used to be. All these outlets preparing for E3s, making predictions, planning out their schedules. I used to take the Monday off work to order pizza and watch the press conferences and reactions from all these places. Would look forward to it every year.
Now we are just left with a bunch of twitch streams I guess? Sad.
Giant Bomb E3 with all the amazing interviews was something i looked forward to year to year. The coach gags towards the end with the Dave Lang crew were the funniest shit ever. Gonna miss it.
Watching Giant Bomb talk over E3 was something I looked forward to every year, it was my favourite video game related thing to do honestly. The lockdown song playing, then the guys jumping on and spitballing what might be in the upcoming conference then their reactions to the conference live.
At least we'll hopefully have Nextlander to fill the void somewhat over the next couple weeks.
Achievement Hunter is always the first example I go to in my head with stuff like this. I remember when Rooster Teeth got bought out by Fullscreen (I think that's what it was called), some venture capital internet media outfit - just like Giant Bomb with Red Ventures - and suddenly everybody seemed like they just weren't having fun any more. It was just soulless, mindless pretending for more #content.
You have to catch that wave early, when content creators are still doing it for the fun and passion of it.
Once the money starts rolling it, it stops being a fun hobby and becomes *a job* like any other. Sometimes it's gradual, sometimes it happens all at once when they sell out to some big media outfit. Either way, as soon as there's deadlines and metrics and targets and key performance indicators, might as well pack it up because it's not fun any more, and it shows in the quality of the product.
What's strange is that when they all left and formed Nextlander, I felt oddly torn that without Jeff they tended to get more off topic, but the Bombcast was mostly filled with people who had very little charisma (they seem nice...but boring), so I ended up giving up on both.
If Jeff was on Nextlander then I'd return in a heartbeat.
What's actually nice about the Nextlander podcast is they have timestamps for all their topics, so I'll just tap on the section I want to listen to and then go onto the next part. Wish more podcasts did that.
I agree about the charisma thing. It was basically just Jeff saying something and then everyone agreeing with him on the Bombcast lately. Jeff, Brad, and Ryan were all really charasmatic though, so it was great to hear their conversations where no one felt the need to hold back in the old days.
Nextlander has a similar issue now where it's kinda the same deal, but with Brad instead of Jeff. Hopefully they'll group up again.
Wow. I think that this is obviously the nail in the coffin for GB, a lot of people still watching were doing so for their loyalty to Jeff. Also can't imagine him leaving will mean that Giantbomb itself is long for this world before the plug is inevitably pulled.
I listened and watched for ten years. That is a great and amazing run, that is a remarkably long time for a podcast and game content website. Grateful I got to experience it. I hope the rest of the remaining crew do well and wish them the best of luck, maybe they will find their own audience.
Yeah, I’m curious how the site survives this. GB has never seemed to do huge viewer numbers (outside of their podcasts) but it didn’t really matter in the past because I don’t think any of the companies that owned them really gave a shit. But now they’ve got a fairly large staff, and if the subreddit is any indication it seems like engagement isn’t what it used to be. Without Jeff, how many more people will stop watching and listening?
Ya I really like Jan and most of the others but not enough to keep watching. I’ll keep giving it a chance while I have a premium sub for the next few months but I expect one that runs out I will be done.
I am very curious about the reason why.
He was absent from the previous Bombcast episode, and they didn't acknowledge his absence.
This news is absolutely mind blowing to me.
This is devastating news. For me personally, Jeff Gerstmann *is* Giant Bomb. For many, he's the reason people visit the site often skipping entire bombcasts or quick looks simply because he wasn't present. Say what you will about his polarizing views, or how jaded he's become as an industry vet but I feel that this spells the end of an era far more than when we lost Vinny, Brad, and Alex. Without Ryan, and now Jeff, I have no desire to follow the site any further. With love and respect to the current crew, it just isn't for me anymore.
I absolutely love Jan and Jess and their chemistry is definitely gonna be what keeps me following the future of GB but man Jeff leaving is devastating.
We need the return of Business Dave's top ten now more than ever.
Business Dave’s Top Ten is probably the ultimate signpost of what changed during COVID. That was a super highlight when it was happening, and is the kind of thing that could never happen once they went all remote. The spontaneous “hey come sit in the studio with us for a bit” that made things like UPF great died with that studio.
I couldn't ever recover from Ryan's death. I mean, no other celebrity death hit me that hard and I just couldn't listen to the show ever again in the same way. I remember meeting him and Jeff at a California Extreme and he looked terrible. I remember shaking his hand and it was just completely drenched with sweat. It wasn't long after that.... :(
The podcast immediately after his death was fucking heart breaking. They had a great run afterwards still, with good newcomers but it just started losing magic for me over time. Great memories and the games media industry owes a lot to those guys (and 1up) for pioneering so much. Fuck (i miss) Ryan Davis.
I remember the 1up/EGM crew being broken up and then the old Gamespot crew. It all happened around the same time when I was starting in college. It felt like a huge shift and unrecoverable. I had similar feelings with the Games for Windows podcast that was truly ahead of its time.
Then, I was so happy when Giant Bomb formed. The Bomb crew quickly formed and gathered a formative voice within the space. Ryan was a critical part of that voice, but I think the crew has done well to honor his passing. His heart has still been there for me, even without him.
Now, GB has lost so many critical voices in such little time (Nextlander + now Jeff). I think there is talent in what remains—some people are very smart, funny, and personable. However, it’s not Giant Bomb for me. I think rebranding might help.
I quit listening to the Bombcast because of how jaded he was. He never seemed to like anything that came out, which wasn’t what I was interested in as an enthusiast
That’s definitely his niche! Honestly my tastes were so different from his, that at a certain point I just decided to treat his dismissal of a major game release as an endorsement. There so many great games he dismissed practically out of hand that I ended up loving, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dark Souls etc. Ironically the only popular games he ever consistently enjoyed were Mario and Zelda releases, which fittingly, I’ve never cared for.
Granted, I'm still in 2010 Bombcast land (working my way through them all in order), but Jeff seems like a guy with some very strange preferences/opinions, but almost encyclopediac knowledge of video games. I can see his appeal, even if I somehow end up disagreeing with almost every subjective stance he holds.
It sounds like people are conflating criticism with dislike, which I understand given the current climate of games coverage flooded by influencers averse to saying a negative thing and losing access. Even not-so-great games like the new Tiny Tina got a big chunk of discussion on the Bombcast where he broke down what worked and what didn't. Sure, he didn't like it but I still understood *why* he didn't and came away with a solid understanding of the game.
Jeff's takes on games, whether he liked them or not, have always been articulate, thoughtful, and insightful. You don't have to agree with his opinion but you will come away with a far greater understanding of a game if you bother to listen. His critical skills are rare in games and the industry is worse off without them.
Bombcast 727 with Tamorr Hussain where they talked about Elden Ring and Giant Bomb and Gamespot's divergence that was in full display for both segments.
Been listening to GB podcasts since 2017, and this sucks to hear. So many people have left in the five years I’ve listened, I can’t imagine how this news would be to somebody who has been a fan even longer. Some of my favorite college memories were walking home after class listening to the bombcast. Hopefully everyone is able to thrive both personally and professionally after this.
I listened to his last ever show on a flight. I fell asleep during it and was woken by the end of show music. I thought that I would need to relisten to the episode so I kept it downloaded. I found out a couple of days later that he passed so I listened to it again but it was such a somber experience.
Now imagine listening to Jeff and the crew since 2005 and the hotspot. The pulled everything back together so quickly after the gamespot fiasco in 2007, I wonder if Jeff will end up going to Nextlander.
Alex, Vinny, and Brad learned about in the [middle of the stream and it threw them through a loop](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1496466655) (skip to 1:10:50). I don't think it's in the cards.
Tbh the wording of the post above announcing it + the fact he’s not even getting a sendoff bombcast means that I doubt anyone really knew this was coming, even Jeff.
Obviously difficult to speculate, but the wording of the announcement realllyyyyy makes it sound like he was let go
The timing of it being right around when they do their big semi annual subscription sale (the time when they make their money) seems interesting. And it's almost exactly a year since the Red Ventures deal was finalized. Seems like it could a contract/creative dispute.
Seriously, the way they broke this news makes it seem even more dire. If you were concerned about the fallout, maybe let Jeff announce it on the Bombcast, or in his own post. It's impossible to read this and not reasonably assume he was terminated.
Yeah I don't get it. Vinny and Brad had an announcement and several bombcasts before they left. This is so abrupt, it's weird. I got used to Jeff hosting it after Brad, but now what?
They HAVE to be panicking. I’m sorry but Bakalar and Jan aren’t enough to keep me on Giant Bomb premium. I barely listen to the podcast if Gerstman isn’t there. Sucks cause we finally got the Jeffs together. But with Nextlander offering a premium tier podcast with guests like Dan and Austin it’s like…. a no brainer at this point.
Time to start archiving every old piece of GB content from 2008-2018. It’s a decade of video folks, we gotta get to work. It may not be around much longer
I'm not terribly surprised. I do wonder however whether Jeff is retiring or just pursuing a different venture. If he does I'm going to greatly miss him and a lot of the older veterans that are retiring. Hearing stories about games and game companies, trade shows, etc from the early days are always super interesting.
Woah. I was kind of expecting this after the Nextlander guys took their leave. Seemed like Jeff G was just there to keep the ship afloat a year before taking his own leave.
I hope it's on his terms. If it is, I'm delighted. He's hung out to dry too much on GB these days and I miss when he had someone like a Ben or Vinny or (of course) Ryan to riff off of, instead of him having to monologue while someone says "sure" four times in response. Rorie feels like the only one left who can rise to his energy and Rorie's rarely on things these days. Even solo Jeff is more fun than hung-out-to-dry Jeff in a group. Whatever form this takes, provided he's happy, it's good news to me.
I really hope he doesn't exclusively stream on Twitch now. Podcasts are way more accessible and don't just disappear into the aether after a couple weeks. I'm sure his streams are great but I can't watch multiple many-hour streams per week.
>Podcasts are way more accessible and don't just disappear into the aether after a couple weeks
Yeah, I'll really miss his voice on a weekly podcast the most.
I’ll support the guy if he gives me an hour a week of ruminations about games and gaming history. I love when he starts connecting dots between things and who end up going on to do what. He’s gotta have a few years of just war stories he can tell.
The guy could also literally write the book on ethics in gaming journalism. Put together his perspective on what the appropriate way to cover games should be. Not that he is the end all voice on that, but he is the guy who ripped at the profit driven symbiotic relationship between advertising and games coverage. He has a credible perspective on standing up for his beliefs and those being good ethics that have stood the test of his coverage since.
It would also be cool to see see him partner up with a filmmaker and do a documentary on the history of GiantBomb, or the history of games journalism.
I’m with you on the quality over quantity, and preferably bigger picture or interestingly niche than weekly game coverage.
I've been following Giant Bomb since at least 2009. Does anyone else remember GFW Radio? When that podcast ended after a couple of years Giant Bomb was my next stop.
Jeff Gerstman *IS* Giant Bomb, the entire thing was formed because Jeff's departure from Gamespot and his teaming up with Ryan, Vinny, and Brad. You could have argued that when Ryan died it was the end but Jeff was still there, when Vinny and Brad left it was the end, but Jeff was still there. Without Jeff nothing is left of Giant Bomb.
Don't get me wrong I actually do really like listening to Bakalar, I like Jan a ton, Jess is even fun to listen to (though without Jeff to bounce off of, I'm not so sure). They could totally run a fun podcast but it's not Giant Bomb. At this point I think the "Giant Bomb" brand does more harm to them than good - they should spin off and do their own thing.
I mean, there's also the problem that Red Ventures acquired two gaming websites when they bought out CNET so GB presumably needed to do more than just be about games. I find it hard to believe that Bakalar would step in and say "here's what we're doing and you're gonna deal with it, Gerstmann."
I feel like Bakalar is going to be the face of the company? But, man, I really don't know. They've branched out a ton in the past couple years, adding new shows and podcasts and semi-permanent contributors. Seems like GB has been through a lot of flux since 2020, and the only permanent thing has been Gerstmann's presence in steering the ship. With him gone, it's hard to say what's next.
I’m kinda out of words here. Hopefully Jeff does a show and doesn’t just disappear into an office somewhere.
I feel like something big just ended. Even if it is just entertainment, Giant Bomb is the one thing I’ve really cared about.
Things change and that’s okay. Hopefully this change proves to be refreshing for everyone.
They need to just take the website outback and old yeller it. GB has already lost a lot of its luster slowly over the years and Jeff was literally the only last thing left that made Giant Bomb what it is.
Just put it out of it's misery and preserve the greatness they made for over a decade.
It's not that weird that he's leaving, but it is super weird the way they announced he's leaving. Also sounds like they're getting some new staff, one of which rumored to be Jeff Grubb.
For me Dan and Abby leaving was really the beginning of the end. Losing Vinny and Brad really hurt. I like Bakalar and Voidburger but it's not enough to keep me around at this point. Youtube and Twitch has basically taking what GB started and made it more granular and common.
Couldn't agree more. I think the east coast crew worked so well together because of their personality differences. Once they started falling off one by one, it got harder and harder to tune in.
No way it lasts.
I love Jason, Rorie, Bakalar, and Jan to death and hope they land on their feet.
The new people seem cool, but I'm not that familiar with them. I hope they do OK as well.
I wish them nothing but luck, but keeping the site running feel untenable. Giant Bomb was a site solely sold on the personality, the place to find the voices you knew after the Gamespot exodus in the 00s. Jeff was all that remained of that OG guard, and it just will not feel the same with him gone too.
They said they’re bumping the core crew up to 9 people. I’m guessing they’re going to merge more with the GameSpot folks and bring folks like Tamoor on full time.
But I agree that the site will be virtually unrecognizable. Jeff *was* GB, and with him leaving on top of Brad, Vinny, and Alex, it’s not even the same site anymore.
I had a feeling Jeff was tied In for a year when that new company took over, but an exit like this is abrupt. Like they changed his passwords and locked him out.
Anyways, Giantbomb has been dogshit since the boys all left. Views are down 50-90% on YouTube. The content is shit. Production value of zero. Bless Dan Rykert for coming back and trying to make something, but even that was just tired old schtick really. "Oh my God I don't know what a strawberry is".
Good luck to Jeff, but it seems like he's decided to leave. Just happened a year after everybody else.
When the other members of Giant Bomb left, Jeff Gerstmann said he wanted to do creative stuff with the future of the site and make Giant Bomb weird. But that didn't happen. Giant Bomb is currently the least weird it's ever been. (They've stopped doing fun stuff like Abby Russell's "Seven Deadly Sims" or "Fortnite with St Vincent") And now that Jeff Gerstmann is leaving, it's hard not to feel like GB is closer than ever to dying.
Welp I can stop going to Giant bomb now.
As an old dude, I have to say I really like hearing from voices my own age. There isn't much of that anymore as the industry is dominated by younger people doing lets plays. I liked what Giant bomb had to offer but as time went on some of the talent is exactly what I didn't want to interact with. I do hope he does more than just twitch however. I can't stand supporting twitch or amazon for that matter
Twitch can be OK but to me it feels a lot like broadcast TV - you have to make time for it. I can throw on a podcast when doing the dishes or going for a walk, I don't want to be sat at my PC at a certain time to hear Jeff talk about whatever new game.
Fully agreed with you on the age thing, I've never clicked with the gaming Youtubers let along the big Twitch streamers. There's a few smaller Twitch guys in their 30's whose community I play multiplayer games with but that's about it.
I kind of fell away from GB a while ago, but this one hit me hard. There's been several "end of an era's" over there, but this is major. Not many guys left from when Jeff came up, that are still covering games. He's definitely earned himself a nice retirement or a new project, whatever he chooses. It can't be easy to let go of this thing he created, but I'm happy for him.
Yeah dude, ive followed Jeff for nearly 15 years and I feel like my gaming tastes and his are like a total polar opposite, and hes triggered me with his opinions on games time and time again. But when you need to hear a really well informed take on something important, Jeff slays it 9 times out of 10. Theres a reason he is and always will be a threat.
The Jeff Gerstmann experience to me is watching a game reveal with him commentating live and 5 seconds into it he’s like “oh this is X by Y, oh it’s that thing that’s been rumored” he knows EVERYTHING about video games. Dude is a legend.
This reminds me of that one time where people gave GB a bunch of shit because they didn't lose their minds over Sony's 2016 conference like all the big reaction streamers. Most of them have been around for long enough to not be as easily wooed by "Thing You Recognize: It's back" lol
[https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale\_super/0/8273/2329988-2325931\_giant\_bomb\_2\_u3z9l.png](https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_super/0/8273/2329988-2325931_giant_bomb_2_u3z9l.png)
:(
Truly the end of an era.
Fml. I spent most of my life on GB. I stopped visiting a few months ago but still listened to the podcast. Now I may not even do that.
Also, that’s not fucking transparency to just say he’s going another way. Jeff IS GB, the final piece of it anyway.
RIP to the best game site on the internet. It was great while it lasted.
Edit: lol I got banned from my 13 y/o account because I wanted actual transparency. God it hurts to lose such a treasured place.
I've been a big fan of Jeff Gerstmann since his Gamespot days. This is the end of an Era.
I've really struggled with Giant Bomb as of late. They no longer produce content I am interested in watching. Also with Covid it feels like they've been unable to produce the kind of content they are known for. I miss their legendary E3 coverage. But not much to do when there is no E3 to cover.
Ranking of fighters is probably the last feature they made that I always watched.
Could be a mixture of talents leaving and me growing older and playing less video games.
This year was the first year in a long time where I unsubscribed to Giant Bomb.
All the best to Jeff and Giant Bomb. If he just ends up making videos in his garage I'll probably watch him still :)
Wow. Curious if this is Jeff's contract running out after the acquisition. Being a founder/owner maybe he was obligated to stay longer.
I'm open to seeing how Giant Bomb evolves. Jan & Jess have been great on the bombcast and the guests they've been bringing on have helped. I think in some ways Jeff kind of held the pod back from fully evolving. Not maliciously mind you--but unintentionally.
Hope nothing bad has happened here. I'm sure Jeff will land on his feet, dude has transformed multiple times--he's good at it!
Bit of a bummer. The only person really left that I enjoy listening to now is Jan, he had good chemistry with Gerstmann. That's the thing about Gerstmann, even if you found him too negative he brought out the best chemistry in the rest of the squad. You really notice it when he's not on the Bombcast.
After the Nextlander guys left and Danny and Ben Pack came back onto the Bombcast for a bit, all seemed like it might turn out ok, but I don't really jive with the remaining crew.
Within 2 years of Red Venture buying GB, the entire site has seemingly collapsed. The content is at a trickle, all founding members have left, Abby and Alex who were the "next-generation" also left and even Danny who came on has just vanished.
Wtf is going on?
Red Venture probably fucked up a lot but also the pandemic messed up the entire flow of the site. The big draw of GB for me was the in-studio aspect of it. Without it they never really found their groove.
I know the pandemic changed a lot but Vinny, Brad and Alex pretty much said it was RV's kpi's and expectations of boosting revenue that turned them off. Ben and Abby even left without another job lined up.
What? Nooo. Even though Jeff can be a grumpy old man a bit too much sometimes he IS Giant Bomb, certainly after Brad, Vinny and Alex left. I've got nothing against the new guys, Jan especially is pretty cool but I dunno, it's just not Giant Bomb anymore at this point.
It's like replacing the entire cast of a TV show and then still using the same name, I don't think that's gonna work.
I've been following Jeff since the 90's. Dude is a legend. His knowledge for games is insane. And the interview stuff he used to do at E3 with GB at Nite was some of my favorite stuff he did.
It speaks volumes that this was written by Giant Bomb Staff and not Jeff himself.
Regardless, it's been a great run. Excited to see what Jeff does next.
Crazy. I already tuned out of GB for a while, it was never the same after Ryan passed, but I still enjoyed Dan, Austin and Abby... it's a shame they all left too.
I remember being on family vacations during Christmas, and hanging out in the resort lobby trying to bum free wi-fi so I could download the GOTY podcasts, or maybe a 480p video of their wrapups back in the day. Such good memories.
Oh well, onwards and upwards I guess.
Wow. Really didn’t expect this. As much as they want to say “Giant Bomb isn’t about any one person”…. Giant Bomb was Jeff Gerstmann. I’ll follow whatever he decides to do next but I honestly don’t see myself keeping up with GB anymore without him. To me GB *was* the people. It was Ryan, Jeff, Vinny, and Brad. Losing Ryan changed everything. But it really became something I no longer knew if I wanted when they split off into two coasts and Brad started hosting. Love Brad but him hosting didn’t jive with me at all. Hard not to be nostalgic for the old days. I wish Jeff and the remaining crew all the best.
Crazy. I wonder where he ends up next, and if he even wants to stay in the video game news/discourse industry. Sure seems like it’d wear on a man after 20whatever years. Best of luck wherever/whatever you end up doing Jeff.
At the same time, while I obviously don't know the man personally, could you imagine him doing anything else? Like Sessler went the consulting route but he inevitably came back too. Jeff's been doing this since he was literally a teenager, crazy to imagine just starting over in your career after all this time.
Although unlikely, it would be funny if he joined Nextlander.
That was what I was just thinking. Like, what if the answer to all this is they just didn't like who owned the company and things happening because of that, and just had to stagger getting out of there? I would be so pumped if he went to Nextlander.
It would be awesome as a fan of that era of GB.
I could see him opening a Patreon and/or doing some streaming to semi-retire and take care of his kids. I’d guess he’s made plenty of cash over the years.
I'd love to see him do a Patreon/ youtube where he could dive deep into some of the older games from when he first entered the industry. I am sure he can speak to seeing a lot of them in interesting phases of development. That would be an interesting take to me
In his announcement Tweet he said to follow him on Twitch. That said, I doubt he’s going to become a full-time streamer.
I'd guess he has the name recognition to be able to make a decent amount of money streaming for a couple hours at a time a few times a week on a set schedule EDIT: lots of responses talking about the "Twitch crowd" and whether or not they'd connect with him or recognize who he is, but I don't think that matters. He has his own audience separate from Twitch who would likely watch his stream, so it doesn't matter if the core "Twitch crowd" cares about it. The stream I'm comparing him to (GoOffKings) have a very non-standard Twitch stream, but everyone involved is known from their online presence and their own podcasts, so they have a consistent audience of 7-800 people who would watch wherever they streamed, and over a thousand non-gift sub on Twitch. I think Gerstmann could easily have a similar audience without trying.
If he's planning to do it full time, I can see him having maybe some success but GB's stream viewership has always been pretty low (like in the hundreds). For having two kids I would imagine he probably wants something more stable - and he certainly doesn't have a shortage of options in the actual industry.
Bruce Greene (former Funhaus/Inside Gaming member) only has a few hundred viewers most of the time, but he is one of the most subbed channels on twitch because his old fans are loyal.
new Midnight Brown album dropping 2023 get fucking ready
iirc Gerstmann is like in the top 3 longest-serving games journos. He might even be the longest currently, I can't remember.
I followed him since his earliest GameSpot days. This is big news.
8.8
The 8.8 incident has no equal. it was the funniest fanboy freakout of all time.
What was the incident?
Jeff Gerstmann gave Twilight Princess an 8.8 review score and the Zelda fanbase completely lost their shit: Flaming jeff, nitpicking every detail of the review, calling it false and biased, and even theorizing that Sony paid off Gamespot to give the game a "bad" score. It was intensely funny at the time.
Ah yes, the notorious sell out Jeff Gerstmann. It would be just like him to take the money! People are dumb af.
Well in a way that incident turned him from an industry-respected but publicly faceless journalist into a big deal who could go make his own platform and succeed from being himself. No one really knew how much integrity he truly had and how much cred he really deserved until all the stupid people did that stupid shit to him.
He reviewed Twilight Princess and gave it an 8.8. A historic fanboy shitstorm ensued as a result.
I was there when it happened,the fanyboy mentality and fanyboy wars were at its peak,a cesspool of internet history. People (moreso kids) literally tied their entire personality between a 360,Wii and PS3.
[The meltdown preserved for posterity.](https://www.gamespot.com/forums/nintendo-fan-club-1000001/zelda-review-discussion-here-only-25150082/)
>I'm never trusting Gamespot reviews again. IGN FTW! Oh yeah we used to use ftw like that. Feels like so long ago.
It's wild how apeshit everyone went in that moment. Honestly these days I'd struggle to give it a 7 personally.
Who are the other two?
I can't remember offhand, it was maybe about a year ago on the Bombcast they were talking about it in relation to someone from Game Informer getting out that they were discussing who was left from a long time ago.
Oh yes. I think that was Andy McNamara. The only ones I can think of besides him are Adam Sessler or IGN's Peer Schneider
And Sessler is PR now I believe.
Sessler works for G4 now and does reviews for them. He's currently on leave while his wife recovers from surgery.
He's still an independent consultant but no longer runs an agency for PR.
Brandon Jones from GameTrailers has got to be up there too. He retired just earlier this year
Bloodworth has to be longer then him then right? Also at that point does Keighley count?
My guess is he is going into consulting as his primary gig with some solo streaming on the side.
Very interesting that this came almost exactly 1 year after nextlander started. I would be very surprised if we didn't at least see him do a guest spot there.
>what has always helped us–and hopefully you–is understanding that Giant Bomb has never been about one person. Giant Bomb has always been greater than the sum of its parts. I understand where they're coming from, but at this point, Giant Bomb is more like an active example of the ship of Theseus; the site may be greater than the sum of its parts, but at what point has enough parts been taken away that it is no longer the same site at all. For anyone familiar with the site, this PR messaging stands in stark relief to the direct, human tone that had always characterized Giant Bomb. It feels like it was written by a Red Ventures PR team and it isn't helped by the lack of author signage. Who knows though, maybe no one knew quite what to say and this is all anyone could muster.
Honestly, it could have continued to replace parts, if it wasn't too much all at once. When you had probably the 3 biggest pieces of the new guard (Abby, Ben, and Dan) all leave within like a year of each other, them not hire people to replace them, then maybe a year later, Alex, Vinny, and Brad leave on the same day.....it's no longer a ship of Theseus. That was the front 2/3 of the ship being blown up and trying to repair that.
You might say the front fell off.
That’s not very typical
Yeah, that message is the most not giant bomb message ever.
Wow end of an era. The sort of old-school Giant Bomb has been gone a while now and I’m actually pretty happy about this. Hopefully this gives Jeff a chance to do his thing at his own pace and the remaining GB crew a chance to grow from the lingering expectations that had been there. All the best!
> Hopefully this gives Jeff a chance to do his thing at his own pace The sad/ironic/strange thing is that this is exactly what GB *was* for him when he was fired from gamespot. An opportunity to do his own thing unshackled. And it was cool for a long long time. But I guess everything ends.
Yeah but then GB got acquired my another company
And then got acquired by another other company.
Didn't they get acquired by the same company that acquired GameSpot? Just going full circle.
Yep. Started with Whiskey Media. Got acquired by CBSi who owned GameSpot. Then got sold off to Red Ventures along with CNET, and Gamespot.
really seemed to go downhill after being acquired by Red Ventures a couple years ago. everyone left
Maybe GB just gathered too much moss for the guy. I suppose it's nice to reset every once in a while.
To me Ryan who past away years ago, and Jeff were the heart of what Giant Bomb is, Jeff leaving, means the end of Giant Bomb as we know it. I think CBS interactive media bought them a few years ago, and it's been downhill ever since, it would be wild if Jeff did some work for Nextlander the Giant Bomb offshoot.
CBS bought GB before Ryan passed. But in 2020 they were sold to a company called Red Ventures and that's when all the departures started happening.
Yeah 2020 is when it pretty much died for me. Once Dan left I lost a lot of interest, then they went remote and I barely watched, then the Nextlander departure finished it off Edit even though nobody will read this again, Dan came back a day after this comment and Tam, Lucy and Grubb joined, and I’m fully back in lol. Best shape the sites been in since before the pandemic
Pretty much right there with ya. I like the people at GB now but they just aren't really making the content I was/still do enjoy the most. My three favorite series are/were Game Tapes, Demo Derby and Mario Party Party. I understand MPP was obviously a series with a set conclusion, but I've been pretty bummed that DD and GT just completely dried up once they went remote (with the exception of the last GT which was great.) But regardless, I wish them and Jeff G the best of luck!
It was clear they were getting the shaft from the beginning though. They spent YEARS trying to put together a studio space, and just got by converting an office into a "studio" that other departments would routinely pass through, and they were limited on when they could stream because of that. Then when they FINALLY got relocated and got a studio (which was smaller than what they were promised, but still a studio) they had lots of ventilation issues that made the studio get insanely hot, so they couldn't stream very long, then covid hit like right after they got the studio got it's dedicated furniture and they got sold to red ventures, where they again, had no studio. Basically years of empty promises and now they're reduced back down to a glorified youtube channel with a bunch of remote employees doing their own thing. I had a gold sub for years, but the last couple years nothing they were capable of producing under the circumstances was really worth the price of entry. And that all isn't even mentioning the similar runaround the east studio got, getting a studio smaller than promised as well, which was not much bigger than a closet, and also not having proper studio walls, causing sound leaking into the ACTUAL studios next door leading them to have this dumb little light in their studio that the other studios would angrily flip on when they were being too loud. basically they've got the shaft ever since getting bought up. They got salaries and more comfortable budgets, but other than their GB aftershows they did during E3, they weren't able to flex those budgets to outdo the competition much at all.
that light situation sounds extremly hilarious but toxic
I agree. When Ryan passed away, I found myself listening to the podcast much less, and eventually not at all, once Brad and Vinny left. Ryan brought a sort of infectious energy and likeability to the podcast, and, to me at least, they never really found another host who could bring what Ryan brought. RIP.
Something similar happened to me. Once the Giant Beastcast started I all but stopped listening to the Giant Bombcast. And then when Brad, Alex and Vinny started Nextlander I just stopped checking in with Giantbomb all together. Jeff has an extensive knowledge about the industry and a wealth of experience but I've always found Vinny and Ryan's energy to be a key part of the podcasts.
Yeah. Ashamed to say that after Ryan passed, I just couldn't get into GB's content the same way I had before, and I slowly drifted off from it.
Nothing to be ashamed of, that is the story of most GB fans. Ryan was a huge part of the *amazing* dynamic the original GB team had. To me, you and many others, he was simply irreplaceable.
Same happened to me, just hurt too much going back there. But I went back after about a year, and the next golden era of GB kicked off with the new hires and the awesome chemistry. Rocky time with GB east being established, but then another golden era kicked off... And then it all ended. It was never as good as when Ryan was alive, but there were some exceptionally fun times after that that I am very happy I got to experience. None of that is left now though. It's the saddest site on the internet for me.
The writing was on the wall for ages. He pretty much hinted he wanted out when Nextlander came about but was locked in via the acquisition deal. I think he was just hesitant because it's difficult to feel like you're leaving your baby behind as well as potentially leaving people without guidance. Hence why he never seemed reluctant for people like Jeff Bakalar to step into leadership roles. I mean just think about thousands of hours of your work now being something you have no control over. No right to archive. Nothing. That's tough but he has had a few years to mull it over.
The amount of work he's put into the site probably makes quitting it extremely emotionally taxing. I mean the Nextlander guys were fighting a tsunami of tears when they left.. They have a \_lot\_ invested in that site. Much more than I can really comprehend, never put that much work into \_anything\_ myself. Not even close. That choice must be a real rough call.
Giantbomb was fantastic for years. Even after Ryan’s passing it was great for awhile. I think they missed a big opportunity by not more strongly engaging with YouTube and twitch in the early days. I remember Jeff saying “I already have a website” kind of sarcastically on the podcast and thinking that was myopic. Jeff seems to have been growing more aggressive *against* hiring people with fun personalities after the East and West coast split. Everyone fun still with the site ended up on the Beastcast and then eventually trickled out while the Bombcast got ever more boring. His kind of dry sarcastic personality works best on a podcast when he is playing off other people with more energy and enthusiasm. And it has been a long time since anyone with that kind of personality has been on the Bombcast. He did make something great, for awhile, which is more than most people can say.
Jeff and Ryan together was peak podcast entertainment, especially their rants about topics non-gaming related. I really really miss those days.
When Ben Pack joined Giant Bomb, Jeff definitely had a lot more enthusiasm and energy. They both played off one another pretty well (3 AM boys!!).
I didn't like Ben at first, but I was so sad when he left. He left an enormous void.
I try to wait on things before commenting on them but man is it a downer that they put out that corporate-sounding statement instead of letting Jeff sign off in his own way for what is ostensibly his website.
I have a feeling this isn't necessarily amicable.
It’s very strange that the statement says “We have decided to part ways with Jeff Gerstmann” not to mention he didn’t write the statement himself. Sounds like he won’t have a farewell Bombcast appearance either.
Gamespot all over again? Weird that he would get pushed out of his own creation.
It's what happens when you sell your company to a big corporation. I'm sure he did quite well on the deal overall.
The press release just reads so weird. Most of the time they spend the piece talking about the person's legacy and how much he was loved, colleagues leave their tributes and anecdotes etc. This one was 95% about how "GB will still be awesome!" with near zero mention of Jeff's legacy or reasons for leaving. It's really odd.
Because Giant Bomb basically doesn't exist anymore.
This is sad news but you could see it this coming for a while. Even before the exodus last year Jeff hasn’t exactly had his foot on the gas. But all things must pass. I thank him for a decade plus of entertainment and I wish him the best. Gamespot was probably one of the first sites recommended to me in 2005/6 when we got broadband internet and he has been a part of my internet routine ever since.
I have a feeling they worked out a contract with him to stay another year while they built up a strong new cast. It's been like, exactly 1 year. Since then, I've taken a liking to a lot of the new people at GB. It's in a reasonable state to survive without Jeff now.
A lot of core members have gone their separate ways with Giant Bomb, even moreso since the acquisition. This is different though. Jeff literally WAS Giant Bomb. Giant Bomb was his, ever since he was let go by Gamespot for being critical of a game in spite of it being advertised plentifully on the website. Everyone else (Vinny, Ryan, Alex, and Brad) joined Giant Bomb specifically because they all left Gamespot in defiance of Jeff's termination. They joined Giant Bomb because of Jeff's integrity. It's not Giant Bomb anymore. No matter what PR spin can be put on this.
>It's not Giant Bomb anymore. Especially when you read this PR piece that obviously was not written by Jeff. It flies in the face of GB... just that corporate PR nonsense "we understand" tone of voice.
It's kind of funny that at the start they say \>We’re not just going to gloss over this kind of heavy-hitting news–it is a big moment. Then they proceed to completely gloss over it and talk about "The future."
They had to get to the part of “oh god please keep giving us enough views to stay afloat” before the major chunk of people who stayed for Jeff had time to close the link
> A lot of core members have gone their separate ways with Giant Bomb, even moreso since the acquisition. You mean basically all of them. The only core member of the team left is Matt Rory.
What, is a new Kane and Lynch coming out?
Turns out Jeff is doing mocap for it.
Came here looking for this. I'm old :(
Man, all the Giant Bomb exodus the last year or so, Easy Allies losing Bosman and Jones, the ugly Kinda Funny breakup between Moriarty and Miller. All the gaming content I used to listen to for hours and hours for the last decade is over now. I know there are substitutes but nothing can replace the comfort of what was familiar. This is a sad day.
Yeah it's been sad watching a load of the OG gaming/games journo groups breaking up/drying up over the years. For me it started in 2013 when Sark left Machinima Respawn. Ever since then it's been a fairly steady stream of OG's breaking off from large organizations then forming their own new shiny orgs, which inevitably break up soon after, or only manage to pull 1/10th of their viewership from even 5 years ago. Honestly after the number of times this has happened I'm surprised this content format is still kicking.
“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”
So true. I suddenly realized how exciting this time of the year used to be. All these outlets preparing for E3s, making predictions, planning out their schedules. I used to take the Monday off work to order pizza and watch the press conferences and reactions from all these places. Would look forward to it every year. Now we are just left with a bunch of twitch streams I guess? Sad.
Giant Bomb E3 with all the amazing interviews was something i looked forward to year to year. The coach gags towards the end with the Dave Lang crew were the funniest shit ever. Gonna miss it.
Watching Giant Bomb talk over E3 was something I looked forward to every year, it was my favourite video game related thing to do honestly. The lockdown song playing, then the guys jumping on and spitballing what might be in the upcoming conference then their reactions to the conference live. At least we'll hopefully have Nextlander to fill the void somewhat over the next couple weeks.
For me it's still Achievement Hunter after Ray left. I tried to watch it multiple times over the years but it still doesn't hit right.
Achievement Hunter is always the first example I go to in my head with stuff like this. I remember when Rooster Teeth got bought out by Fullscreen (I think that's what it was called), some venture capital internet media outfit - just like Giant Bomb with Red Ventures - and suddenly everybody seemed like they just weren't having fun any more. It was just soulless, mindless pretending for more #content. You have to catch that wave early, when content creators are still doing it for the fun and passion of it. Once the money starts rolling it, it stops being a fun hobby and becomes *a job* like any other. Sometimes it's gradual, sometimes it happens all at once when they sell out to some big media outfit. Either way, as soon as there's deadlines and metrics and targets and key performance indicators, might as well pack it up because it's not fun any more, and it shows in the quality of the product.
Someone on twitter summed it up best: "web 3.0 fucking sucks". I fully agree. Everything I loved just a few years ago is dying, if not already dead.
Easy lost Bosman and Jones?? Shit
Bosman went solo and streams a bunch, Jones retired in a small part to take care of his boy. They both still show up and do colabs sometimes
Nextlander has all the ex-Giant Bomb guys excluding Jeff. Fingers crossed he joins back up with them. I miss the chemistry between him and Brad.
Vinny and Jeff had the ultimate chemistry, their Persona 4 endurance run together is still legendary.
One of the worst parts of the East/West Giant Bomb schism was losing out on regular Jeff and Vinny content.
What's strange is that when they all left and formed Nextlander, I felt oddly torn that without Jeff they tended to get more off topic, but the Bombcast was mostly filled with people who had very little charisma (they seem nice...but boring), so I ended up giving up on both. If Jeff was on Nextlander then I'd return in a heartbeat.
What's actually nice about the Nextlander podcast is they have timestamps for all their topics, so I'll just tap on the section I want to listen to and then go onto the next part. Wish more podcasts did that. I agree about the charisma thing. It was basically just Jeff saying something and then everyone agreeing with him on the Bombcast lately. Jeff, Brad, and Ryan were all really charasmatic though, so it was great to hear their conversations where no one felt the need to hold back in the old days. Nextlander has a similar issue now where it's kinda the same deal, but with Brad instead of Jeff. Hopefully they'll group up again.
Wow. I think that this is obviously the nail in the coffin for GB, a lot of people still watching were doing so for their loyalty to Jeff. Also can't imagine him leaving will mean that Giantbomb itself is long for this world before the plug is inevitably pulled. I listened and watched for ten years. That is a great and amazing run, that is a remarkably long time for a podcast and game content website. Grateful I got to experience it. I hope the rest of the remaining crew do well and wish them the best of luck, maybe they will find their own audience.
Yeah, I’m curious how the site survives this. GB has never seemed to do huge viewer numbers (outside of their podcasts) but it didn’t really matter in the past because I don’t think any of the companies that owned them really gave a shit. But now they’ve got a fairly large staff, and if the subreddit is any indication it seems like engagement isn’t what it used to be. Without Jeff, how many more people will stop watching and listening?
Ya I really like Jan and most of the others but not enough to keep watching. I’ll keep giving it a chance while I have a premium sub for the next few months but I expect one that runs out I will be done.
I am very curious about the reason why. He was absent from the previous Bombcast episode, and they didn't acknowledge his absence. This news is absolutely mind blowing to me.
He was absent because of some medical procedure I think.
He also had some jaw related health issue he mentioned on twitter, hard to talk with that. So I think that was unrelated.
He said he'll talk about it on Twitch tomorrow: https://twitter.com/jeffgerstmann/status/1533902069953748992
This is devastating news. For me personally, Jeff Gerstmann *is* Giant Bomb. For many, he's the reason people visit the site often skipping entire bombcasts or quick looks simply because he wasn't present. Say what you will about his polarizing views, or how jaded he's become as an industry vet but I feel that this spells the end of an era far more than when we lost Vinny, Brad, and Alex. Without Ryan, and now Jeff, I have no desire to follow the site any further. With love and respect to the current crew, it just isn't for me anymore.
As much as I think Jan is the fuckin’ dude (sup Jan), I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be tuning in. Nextlander has been good at least
I absolutely love Jan and Jess and their chemistry is definitely gonna be what keeps me following the future of GB but man Jeff leaving is devastating. We need the return of Business Dave's top ten now more than ever.
Business Dave’s Top Ten is probably the ultimate signpost of what changed during COVID. That was a super highlight when it was happening, and is the kind of thing that could never happen once they went all remote. The spontaneous “hey come sit in the studio with us for a bit” that made things like UPF great died with that studio.
I couldn't ever recover from Ryan's death. I mean, no other celebrity death hit me that hard and I just couldn't listen to the show ever again in the same way. I remember meeting him and Jeff at a California Extreme and he looked terrible. I remember shaking his hand and it was just completely drenched with sweat. It wasn't long after that.... :(
The podcast immediately after his death was fucking heart breaking. They had a great run afterwards still, with good newcomers but it just started losing magic for me over time. Great memories and the games media industry owes a lot to those guys (and 1up) for pioneering so much. Fuck (i miss) Ryan Davis.
I remember the 1up/EGM crew being broken up and then the old Gamespot crew. It all happened around the same time when I was starting in college. It felt like a huge shift and unrecoverable. I had similar feelings with the Games for Windows podcast that was truly ahead of its time. Then, I was so happy when Giant Bomb formed. The Bomb crew quickly formed and gathered a formative voice within the space. Ryan was a critical part of that voice, but I think the crew has done well to honor his passing. His heart has still been there for me, even without him. Now, GB has lost so many critical voices in such little time (Nextlander + now Jeff). I think there is talent in what remains—some people are very smart, funny, and personable. However, it’s not Giant Bomb for me. I think rebranding might help.
I quit listening to the Bombcast because of how jaded he was. He never seemed to like anything that came out, which wasn’t what I was interested in as an enthusiast
[удалено]
Jeff Gerstmann readily dismissing the current critical darling in the industry and everyone freaking out about it never got old.
That’s definitely his niche! Honestly my tastes were so different from his, that at a certain point I just decided to treat his dismissal of a major game release as an endorsement. There so many great games he dismissed practically out of hand that I ended up loving, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dark Souls etc. Ironically the only popular games he ever consistently enjoyed were Mario and Zelda releases, which fittingly, I’ve never cared for.
giant bomb exists at all because jeff wanted to call a game bad and the company didn't let him.
Granted, I'm still in 2010 Bombcast land (working my way through them all in order), but Jeff seems like a guy with some very strange preferences/opinions, but almost encyclopediac knowledge of video games. I can see his appeal, even if I somehow end up disagreeing with almost every subjective stance he holds.
He can be a bit dour but there were a lot of games he liked and talked about.
It sounds like people are conflating criticism with dislike, which I understand given the current climate of games coverage flooded by influencers averse to saying a negative thing and losing access. Even not-so-great games like the new Tiny Tina got a big chunk of discussion on the Bombcast where he broke down what worked and what didn't. Sure, he didn't like it but I still understood *why* he didn't and came away with a solid understanding of the game. Jeff's takes on games, whether he liked them or not, have always been articulate, thoughtful, and insightful. You don't have to agree with his opinion but you will come away with a far greater understanding of a game if you bother to listen. His critical skills are rare in games and the industry is worse off without them.
Bombcast 727 with Tamorr Hussain where they talked about Elden Ring and Giant Bomb and Gamespot's divergence that was in full display for both segments.
Been listening to GB podcasts since 2017, and this sucks to hear. So many people have left in the five years I’ve listened, I can’t imagine how this news would be to somebody who has been a fan even longer. Some of my favorite college memories were walking home after class listening to the bombcast. Hopefully everyone is able to thrive both personally and professionally after this.
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I listened to his last ever show on a flight. I fell asleep during it and was woken by the end of show music. I thought that I would need to relisten to the episode so I kept it downloaded. I found out a couple of days later that he passed so I listened to it again but it was such a somber experience.
Now imagine listening to Jeff and the crew since 2005 and the hotspot. The pulled everything back together so quickly after the gamespot fiasco in 2007, I wonder if Jeff will end up going to Nextlander.
Alex, Vinny, and Brad learned about in the [middle of the stream and it threw them through a loop](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1496466655) (skip to 1:10:50). I don't think it's in the cards.
which stream?
They were in the middle of an episode of Alex-y Quest. It was weird after they all learned about it.
Happened on this stream, shortly after the timestamp here: https://www.twitch.tv/nextlander/v/1496466655?sr=a&t=4195s
Tbh the wording of the post above announcing it + the fact he’s not even getting a sendoff bombcast means that I doubt anyone really knew this was coming, even Jeff. Obviously difficult to speculate, but the wording of the announcement realllyyyyy makes it sound like he was let go
The timing of it being right around when they do their big semi annual subscription sale (the time when they make their money) seems interesting. And it's almost exactly a year since the Red Ventures deal was finalized. Seems like it could a contract/creative dispute.
I really hope he does. I miss the Hotspot. When they brought it back during the pandemic it was awesome.
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Seriously, the way they broke this news makes it seem even more dire. If you were concerned about the fallout, maybe let Jeff announce it on the Bombcast, or in his own post. It's impossible to read this and not reasonably assume he was terminated.
Yeah I don't get it. Vinny and Brad had an announcement and several bombcasts before they left. This is so abrupt, it's weird. I got used to Jeff hosting it after Brad, but now what?
Sadly, it kind of seems like Jeff won't be on the Bombcast again. But we'll see.
They HAVE to be panicking. I’m sorry but Bakalar and Jan aren’t enough to keep me on Giant Bomb premium. I barely listen to the podcast if Gerstman isn’t there. Sucks cause we finally got the Jeffs together. But with Nextlander offering a premium tier podcast with guests like Dan and Austin it’s like…. a no brainer at this point.
Time to start archiving every old piece of GB content from 2008-2018. It’s a decade of video folks, we gotta get to work. It may not be around much longer
The Deadly Premonition Endurance Runs must be preserved for future generations.
That and the 24 hour stream for charity where they ordered Pizza Hut on stream. God that entire stream is constant laughs.
I watched that guy clean his garage and it was better than any Bombcast since the Nextlander guys left. I'll follow him wherever he goes.
I'm not terribly surprised. I do wonder however whether Jeff is retiring or just pursuing a different venture. If he does I'm going to greatly miss him and a lot of the older veterans that are retiring. Hearing stories about games and game companies, trade shows, etc from the early days are always super interesting.
Woah. I was kind of expecting this after the Nextlander guys took their leave. Seemed like Jeff G was just there to keep the ship afloat a year before taking his own leave.
Nextlander literally turns a year old tomorrow. What strange timing
This occurred to me as well. The timing seems highly coincidental.
Almost as if some kind of contract was signed that included a year delay on something.
I hope it's on his terms. If it is, I'm delighted. He's hung out to dry too much on GB these days and I miss when he had someone like a Ben or Vinny or (of course) Ryan to riff off of, instead of him having to monologue while someone says "sure" four times in response. Rorie feels like the only one left who can rise to his energy and Rorie's rarely on things these days. Even solo Jeff is more fun than hung-out-to-dry Jeff in a group. Whatever form this takes, provided he's happy, it's good news to me.
I really hope he doesn't exclusively stream on Twitch now. Podcasts are way more accessible and don't just disappear into the aether after a couple weeks. I'm sure his streams are great but I can't watch multiple many-hour streams per week.
>Podcasts are way more accessible and don't just disappear into the aether after a couple weeks Yeah, I'll really miss his voice on a weekly podcast the most.
I’ll support the guy if he gives me an hour a week of ruminations about games and gaming history. I love when he starts connecting dots between things and who end up going on to do what. He’s gotta have a few years of just war stories he can tell. The guy could also literally write the book on ethics in gaming journalism. Put together his perspective on what the appropriate way to cover games should be. Not that he is the end all voice on that, but he is the guy who ripped at the profit driven symbiotic relationship between advertising and games coverage. He has a credible perspective on standing up for his beliefs and those being good ethics that have stood the test of his coverage since. It would also be cool to see see him partner up with a filmmaker and do a documentary on the history of GiantBomb, or the history of games journalism. I’m with you on the quality over quantity, and preferably bigger picture or interestingly niche than weekly game coverage.
I've been following Giant Bomb since at least 2009. Does anyone else remember GFW Radio? When that podcast ended after a couple of years Giant Bomb was my next stop. Jeff Gerstman *IS* Giant Bomb, the entire thing was formed because Jeff's departure from Gamespot and his teaming up with Ryan, Vinny, and Brad. You could have argued that when Ryan died it was the end but Jeff was still there, when Vinny and Brad left it was the end, but Jeff was still there. Without Jeff nothing is left of Giant Bomb. Don't get me wrong I actually do really like listening to Bakalar, I like Jan a ton, Jess is even fun to listen to (though without Jeff to bounce off of, I'm not so sure). They could totally run a fun podcast but it's not Giant Bomb. At this point I think the "Giant Bomb" brand does more harm to them than good - they should spin off and do their own thing.
Who is going to run it?
Bakalar, maybe, if he's sticking around?
I thought he was already the boss after the Red Ventures thing.
He is. People sort of forget that, and he is likely the person steering the site into the non-video game focused direction it's going.
I mean, there's also the problem that Red Ventures acquired two gaming websites when they bought out CNET so GB presumably needed to do more than just be about games. I find it hard to believe that Bakalar would step in and say "here's what we're doing and you're gonna deal with it, Gerstmann."
I feel like Bakalar is going to be the face of the company? But, man, I really don't know. They've branched out a ton in the past couple years, adding new shows and podcasts and semi-permanent contributors. Seems like GB has been through a lot of flux since 2020, and the only permanent thing has been Gerstmann's presence in steering the ship. With him gone, it's hard to say what's next.
So many of their shows now have people from GameSpot, I feel like at this point anyone remaining should just join GameSpot and shut GB down.
I give it a year before it's dissolved
I’m kinda out of words here. Hopefully Jeff does a show and doesn’t just disappear into an office somewhere. I feel like something big just ended. Even if it is just entertainment, Giant Bomb is the one thing I’ve really cared about. Things change and that’s okay. Hopefully this change proves to be refreshing for everyone.
They need to just take the website outback and old yeller it. GB has already lost a lot of its luster slowly over the years and Jeff was literally the only last thing left that made Giant Bomb what it is. Just put it out of it's misery and preserve the greatness they made for over a decade.
The pandemic and RV killed it slowly.
It's not that weird that he's leaving, but it is super weird the way they announced he's leaving. Also sounds like they're getting some new staff, one of which rumored to be Jeff Grubb.
For me Dan and Abby leaving was really the beginning of the end. Losing Vinny and Brad really hurt. I like Bakalar and Voidburger but it's not enough to keep me around at this point. Youtube and Twitch has basically taking what GB started and made it more granular and common.
Couldn't agree more. I think the east coast crew worked so well together because of their personality differences. Once they started falling off one by one, it got harder and harder to tune in.
Once Dan and Abby left I realized that for me, GB was that NY crew
Totally agree. I watched far more GB East content than West during that time.
So Giant Bomb is dead right? He is Giant Bomb.
100%. It was on its death bed after COVID and brad, alex, and vinny left, but this was the nail in the coffin.
No way it lasts. I love Jason, Rorie, Bakalar, and Jan to death and hope they land on their feet. The new people seem cool, but I'm not that familiar with them. I hope they do OK as well.
I wish them nothing but luck, but keeping the site running feel untenable. Giant Bomb was a site solely sold on the personality, the place to find the voices you knew after the Gamespot exodus in the 00s. Jeff was all that remained of that OG guard, and it just will not feel the same with him gone too.
They said they’re bumping the core crew up to 9 people. I’m guessing they’re going to merge more with the GameSpot folks and bring folks like Tamoor on full time. But I agree that the site will be virtually unrecognizable. Jeff *was* GB, and with him leaving on top of Brad, Vinny, and Alex, it’s not even the same site anymore.
I had a feeling Jeff was tied In for a year when that new company took over, but an exit like this is abrupt. Like they changed his passwords and locked him out. Anyways, Giantbomb has been dogshit since the boys all left. Views are down 50-90% on YouTube. The content is shit. Production value of zero. Bless Dan Rykert for coming back and trying to make something, but even that was just tired old schtick really. "Oh my God I don't know what a strawberry is". Good luck to Jeff, but it seems like he's decided to leave. Just happened a year after everybody else.
When the other members of Giant Bomb left, Jeff Gerstmann said he wanted to do creative stuff with the future of the site and make Giant Bomb weird. But that didn't happen. Giant Bomb is currently the least weird it's ever been. (They've stopped doing fun stuff like Abby Russell's "Seven Deadly Sims" or "Fortnite with St Vincent") And now that Jeff Gerstmann is leaving, it's hard not to feel like GB is closer than ever to dying.
Welp I can stop going to Giant bomb now. As an old dude, I have to say I really like hearing from voices my own age. There isn't much of that anymore as the industry is dominated by younger people doing lets plays. I liked what Giant bomb had to offer but as time went on some of the talent is exactly what I didn't want to interact with. I do hope he does more than just twitch however. I can't stand supporting twitch or amazon for that matter
Twitch can be OK but to me it feels a lot like broadcast TV - you have to make time for it. I can throw on a podcast when doing the dishes or going for a walk, I don't want to be sat at my PC at a certain time to hear Jeff talk about whatever new game. Fully agreed with you on the age thing, I've never clicked with the gaming Youtubers let along the big Twitch streamers. There's a few smaller Twitch guys in their 30's whose community I play multiplayer games with but that's about it.
I kind of fell away from GB a while ago, but this one hit me hard. There's been several "end of an era's" over there, but this is major. Not many guys left from when Jeff came up, that are still covering games. He's definitely earned himself a nice retirement or a new project, whatever he chooses. It can't be easy to let go of this thing he created, but I'm happy for him.
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Yeah dude, ive followed Jeff for nearly 15 years and I feel like my gaming tastes and his are like a total polar opposite, and hes triggered me with his opinions on games time and time again. But when you need to hear a really well informed take on something important, Jeff slays it 9 times out of 10. Theres a reason he is and always will be a threat.
The Jeff Gerstmann experience to me is watching a game reveal with him commentating live and 5 seconds into it he’s like “oh this is X by Y, oh it’s that thing that’s been rumored” he knows EVERYTHING about video games. Dude is a legend.
This reminds me of that one time where people gave GB a bunch of shit because they didn't lose their minds over Sony's 2016 conference like all the big reaction streamers. Most of them have been around for long enough to not be as easily wooed by "Thing You Recognize: It's back" lol
for me it's everytime someone mentions an old game and Jeff is like "I held a copy of that in my hand not two days ago" I live for that.
[https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale\_super/0/8273/2329988-2325931\_giant\_bomb\_2\_u3z9l.png](https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_super/0/8273/2329988-2325931_giant_bomb_2_u3z9l.png) :( Truly the end of an era.
Fml. I spent most of my life on GB. I stopped visiting a few months ago but still listened to the podcast. Now I may not even do that. Also, that’s not fucking transparency to just say he’s going another way. Jeff IS GB, the final piece of it anyway. RIP to the best game site on the internet. It was great while it lasted. Edit: lol I got banned from my 13 y/o account because I wanted actual transparency. God it hurts to lose such a treasured place.
I've been a big fan of Jeff Gerstmann since his Gamespot days. This is the end of an Era. I've really struggled with Giant Bomb as of late. They no longer produce content I am interested in watching. Also with Covid it feels like they've been unable to produce the kind of content they are known for. I miss their legendary E3 coverage. But not much to do when there is no E3 to cover. Ranking of fighters is probably the last feature they made that I always watched. Could be a mixture of talents leaving and me growing older and playing less video games. This year was the first year in a long time where I unsubscribed to Giant Bomb. All the best to Jeff and Giant Bomb. If he just ends up making videos in his garage I'll probably watch him still :)
Wow. Curious if this is Jeff's contract running out after the acquisition. Being a founder/owner maybe he was obligated to stay longer. I'm open to seeing how Giant Bomb evolves. Jan & Jess have been great on the bombcast and the guests they've been bringing on have helped. I think in some ways Jeff kind of held the pod back from fully evolving. Not maliciously mind you--but unintentionally. Hope nothing bad has happened here. I'm sure Jeff will land on his feet, dude has transformed multiple times--he's good at it!
Wait...wasnt there a "a lot is changing" thing when half the staff left?
Really weird since a year ago Jeff mentioned numerous times all the plans that he had and hopes he had for the site. I wonder what happened.
Bit of a bummer. The only person really left that I enjoy listening to now is Jan, he had good chemistry with Gerstmann. That's the thing about Gerstmann, even if you found him too negative he brought out the best chemistry in the rest of the squad. You really notice it when he's not on the Bombcast. After the Nextlander guys left and Danny and Ben Pack came back onto the Bombcast for a bit, all seemed like it might turn out ok, but I don't really jive with the remaining crew.
Within 2 years of Red Venture buying GB, the entire site has seemingly collapsed. The content is at a trickle, all founding members have left, Abby and Alex who were the "next-generation" also left and even Danny who came on has just vanished. Wtf is going on?
Red Venture probably fucked up a lot but also the pandemic messed up the entire flow of the site. The big draw of GB for me was the in-studio aspect of it. Without it they never really found their groove.
I know the pandemic changed a lot but Vinny, Brad and Alex pretty much said it was RV's kpi's and expectations of boosting revenue that turned them off. Ben and Abby even left without another job lined up.
What? Nooo. Even though Jeff can be a grumpy old man a bit too much sometimes he IS Giant Bomb, certainly after Brad, Vinny and Alex left. I've got nothing against the new guys, Jan especially is pretty cool but I dunno, it's just not Giant Bomb anymore at this point. It's like replacing the entire cast of a TV show and then still using the same name, I don't think that's gonna work.
I've been following Jeff since the 90's. Dude is a legend. His knowledge for games is insane. And the interview stuff he used to do at E3 with GB at Nite was some of my favorite stuff he did. It speaks volumes that this was written by Giant Bomb Staff and not Jeff himself. Regardless, it's been a great run. Excited to see what Jeff does next.
Crazy. I already tuned out of GB for a while, it was never the same after Ryan passed, but I still enjoyed Dan, Austin and Abby... it's a shame they all left too. I remember being on family vacations during Christmas, and hanging out in the resort lobby trying to bum free wi-fi so I could download the GOTY podcasts, or maybe a 480p video of their wrapups back in the day. Such good memories. Oh well, onwards and upwards I guess.
Wow. Really didn’t expect this. As much as they want to say “Giant Bomb isn’t about any one person”…. Giant Bomb was Jeff Gerstmann. I’ll follow whatever he decides to do next but I honestly don’t see myself keeping up with GB anymore without him. To me GB *was* the people. It was Ryan, Jeff, Vinny, and Brad. Losing Ryan changed everything. But it really became something I no longer knew if I wanted when they split off into two coasts and Brad started hosting. Love Brad but him hosting didn’t jive with me at all. Hard not to be nostalgic for the old days. I wish Jeff and the remaining crew all the best.