Board 8 > Jeff Gerstmann leaving Giant Bomb

(+) Yeah! (+)

That's all she wrote, folks.

https://twitter.com/jeffgerstmann/status/1533902069953748992

Came here to make this same topic.

Insane.

Post on GB says there are 9 core members now. While this news pretty much kills my interest in the site I can't think of who the 9 even would be.

i dont follow this scene at all, but isn't Giant Bomb, like, his thing?

WHAT!?! (no caps)

Honestly doesnt surprise me. Interested to see what hes up to next, though.

The Mana Sword posted...

Honestly doesnt surprise me. Interested to see what hes up to next, though.

Either he's joining Nextlander, because the Red Ventures merger freeze is over, or he's going too the dev side.

https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/giant-news/1100-6230/

Am I crazy or does this have a really fuckin weird tone to it?

Every other person leaving the site was like a big fairwell party, and this is blatantly very cold and strange.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/giant-news/1100-6230/

Am I crazy or does this have a really fuckin weird tone to it?

Every other person leaving the site was like a big fairwell party, and this is blatantly very cold and strange.

One could read it as solemn.

One could also read it as bitterness from a group who knows that, regardless of the quality of their future work, they will fade into irrelevance since it can't survive if none of the original core members remain.

Absolutely wild.

Also Jeff had been having jaw problems for a while that was making it difficult for him to speak. I wonder if that is related. I am also aware that I am 100% doing the weird theorycrafting they always talk about.

Definitely a weird tone to that post though. Regardless, not the end of Giant Bomb, just the end as we know it. Very curious about who the 9 people are, we know four (Jeff B, Jason, Jan, Jess) and maybe Rorie counts as core staff I dunno. That is the most people GB has had since Dan left so its quite the expansion.

I am going to guess that Jeff Grubb is joining. I will also guess that Tam and Lucy are jumping ship from Gamespot since it seems like they almost have already. Beyond that who knows. Either way Im definitely interested to see whats next.

That blog and the fact that he was gone all last week and the fact that theres no last podcast with him tomorrow reads to me like he was forced out by Red Ventures or something.

This reminded me to cancel my Premium that I haven't used in 6 months. Looks like it was set to renew at the end of the month as well.

I'm definitely intrigued to see where he ends up next.

I've officially canceled by sub. Still runs through November but still. If they give me a very strong reason to renew, I might, but I was trending in this direction already.

Yeah Im going to say wait until tomorrows Bombcast before making decisions on the subscription lol. They are apparently doubling the staff and announcing a bunch of new stuff so lets see what the pitch is.

fuck man, its really over

I doubt anything short of Tim Rogers could really get me invested again, I haven't been subbed for like 2 years.

MoogleKupo141 posted...

fuck man, its really over

Duder

Did he give another advertiser's game a low review score? I hear that's what happens when you give advertisers low review scores.

I can't even remember the last time Giant Bomb GAVE a review score.

Don't hug me, I'm scared.

Man, Jan and Jess are now holding GB up all by themselves pretty much

I think tomorrow will be the first time in years that i'll watch the bombcast live. I'm so curious to see how they spin Jeff leaving as not to be the complete death of the site. Like while i don't think it would ever happen, I feel like they should just rebrand the site at this point to something else to make the hard break from the old crew to whatever new crew it will be going forward.

When vinny, brad, and alex bailed a lot of us talked about Jeff staying about a year until the new version the owners wanted took off. And coincidence or not here we are

Giantbombs over for me without jeff.

To people who think hes joining NXL, kinda sounds like the news was new to them too:

https://twitch.tv/videos/1496466655?t=4245s

hockeydude15 posted...

I think tomorrow will be the first time in years that i'll watch the bombcast live. I'm so curious to see how they spin Jeff leaving as not to be the complete death of the site. Like while i don't think it would ever happen, I feel like they should just rebrand the site at this point to something else to make the hard break from the old crew to whatever new crew it will be going forward.

I'm thinking the same thing. I'm about 3 months behind on the podcast but this is some shit I kind of need to hear about right now.

It's not exactly clear to me if Jeff is even going to be on the Bombcast, though I'd very strongly presume not. Which will make it extra awkward. "Jeff's gone and we've replaced him with Jeff and Tam and Lucy and <someone else or elses>".

I have no problem with Giant Bomb evolving to cater to more modern audiences. It's the best move if they want to not stagnate as live streaming continues to be the dominant form of video games consumption. I unfortunately cannot keep up with that kind of landscape, and Jeff G leaving marks the most definitive separation point of what video game coverage was even just five years ago to what it is now. It a bittersweet feeling, but I don't think it'll be the death of the website if they are savvy enough.

GANON1025 posted...

To people who think hes joining NXL, kinda sounds like the news was new to them too:

https://twitch.tv/videos/1496466655?t=4245s

yikes that was very offguard

Seanchan posted...

It's not exactly clear to me if Jeff is even going to be on the Bombcast, though I'd very strongly presume not. Which will make it extra awkward. "Jeff's gone and we've replaced him with Jeff and Tam and Lucy and ".

Pretty sure he isn't between him saying he might talk about it on his twitch tomorrow and how today was his last day. Also I'd be pretty shocked to see at least Tam and Grubb come over, both seem to like what they are doing where they are and I can hardly see how GB would be a step up for either one of them.

It's just such a weird way to announce all of this. Like if everything was on the up and up Jeff announces they are doing some more hiring to be the next wave of what GB is while also saying his goodbyes while giving a brief easily understandable reason as to why he is leaving. Instead we get just him coming out and saying "I'm gone today! Maybe we'll talk about it tomorrow?" and that weird post from "Giant Bomb Staff"

Grubb has already left his old job and somebody leaked (irony) that he is going over to Red Ventures. At this point itd be a shock if Jeff Grubb DIDNT join Giant Bomb. The others are more unknown. I am ready to be wrong here though.

hockeydude15 posted...

Also I'd be pretty shocked to see at least Tam and Grubb come over, both seem to like what they are doing where they are and I can hardly see how GB would be a step up for either one of them.

I would be too, and yet there's a lot of scuttlebutt that Grubb is/has already left VentureBeat and will joining RV (i.e. GiantBomb).

Wow, I was not expecting that so suddenly. I don't follow Giant Bomb as closely as I used to anymore but that site will forever have a special place in my heart and I really respect Gerstmann, so that's pretty sad.

I do really like Bakalar, Jan and Jess tho, hope they're gonna be ok.

Shits kinda crazy. I was just starting to feel like the crew had a good mutual vibe going on. I'm probably still gonna follow the bombcast just as my gaming news source and I like the remaining crew well enough, but this is obviously a massive blow to gb.

@SBAllen were you aware of this going on behind the scenes?

Sidebar but where can I watch these Nextlander FFXIV streams??

Wonder if theyll change the thank_you.wav that plays when you subscribe since no one in it works there anymore

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Sidebar but where can I watch these Nextlander FFXIV streams??

https://www.youtube.com/c/Nextlander/videos

I'll miss Jeff more than anyone else who's left this website, but I've also come to enjoy a lot of the content they've done in the past year much more than anything they were doing during the pandemic years so I'm still optimistic about the future of this website.

Why is it still called Giantbomb?

Rename it please. Rebrand it

Jeff and Ryan are now both gone(RIP Ryan)

Stop using the Giantbomb Name. Call it a different site do your own thing. Reboot.

I don't care if they have decent people making decent content. I'll never sub or pay attention to them ever again.

_Harmonica_ posted...

Shits kinda crazy. I was just starting to feel like the crew had a good mutual vibe going on. I'm probably still gonna follow the bombcast just as my gaming news source and I like the remaining crew well enough, but this is obviously a massive blow to gb.

Its not a massive blow its the nail in the coffin

They should completely reboot the site and call it something else

What is the fucking point of keeping the name Jeff and Ryan created? Respect their legacy and history. Rename the site.

Yuri_LowelI posted...

Why is it still called Giantbomb?

Rename it please. Rebrand it

Jeff and Ryan are now both gone(RIP Ryan)

Stop using the Giantbomb Name. Call it a different site do your own thing. Reboot.

I don't care if they have decent people making decent content. I'll never sub or pay attention to them ever again.

Brother they still call themselves Bioware, Giant Bomb certainly isn't gonna be the one to crack first.

Renaming the website would be disrespectful to thier legacies

Yuri_LowelI posted...

Its not a massive blow its the nail in the coffin

They should completely reboot the site and call it something else

What is the fucking point of keeping the name Jeff and Ryan created? Respect their legacy and history. Rename the site.

i dont think changing the name of a thing someone founded is generally considered respectful to their legacy

it should either remain Giant Bomb, or the remaining crew should just be folded into Gamespot

Not really surprising. Jeff has always seemed more and more tired and also is something of a dinosaur. And i mean that in the best way possible, as someone who is also a dinosaur in many ways. He's probably gone because he couldn't agree on the site's direction.

Jeff loved the studio shows and talking about games, or talking about anything. He's always been interested in that kind of stuff, going back to when he would fool around with public access television.

I would not be surprised if he changes careers entirely. Maybe something with a better work-life balance since his kids are getting older.

Dan Ryckert returning to Giant Bomb

Jeff Grubb joining full time

Looks like Lucy and Tam too

ninkendo posted...

Dan Ryckert returning to Giant Bomb

That was certainly unexpected! I guess he quit working for WWE?

pass

Yeah they did a dark summoning ritual and he said he quit WWE

Fuck Dan Ryckert! Welcome back

Dan is probably the best thing that could happen to Giant Bomb at this point.

Jeff said he plans to go live on Twitch in like an hour and fifteen ?

Im really fascinated by this. Like they have this whole produced video for the new team, so clearly they knew Jeff wasnt going to be staying since last week at least.... why did he just do an Irish goodbye?

to their credit, bringing in four ringers like this is a pretty strong attempt to fill the void. Dans pretty much the biggest dude the site added after the original Gamespot squad.