Today, both Giant Bomb staff and co-founder Jeff Gerstmann talked about his departure from the site he helped create 14 years ago. While he didnât appear on the latest podcast from Giant Bomb to say goodbye, Gerstmann launched his own Patreon-supported video game podcast and video project. He explained that he still loves doing this and is excited about the future. Meanwhile, staff thanked him for his contributions and made it clear they have big plans, saying the site is more than just one person.
Yesterday, Gerstmann announced that after nearly 15 years he was leaving Giant Bomb, a site he helped co-found with the late Ryan Davis. Both left GameSpot after a very public falling out between Gerstmann and GameSpot management over a negative review of the shooter Kane and Lynch
In todayâs episode of the weekly, livestreamed Giant Bomb podcast, the crew of the site talked about the gaming websiteâs future post-Jeff Gerstmann. Staff member Jan Ochoa read a prepared statement about the exitâwhich he referred to as âfoundational shiftingââat the start of the broadcast.
âExits from companies are incredibly complicated,â explained Ochoa, adding that âRespecting everyoneâs privacy is paramount in this.â
He further talked about how Giant Bomb as a site is not about âone person or two people or just one officeâ and that instead the site is powered by a team that works hard to âkeep the lights on.â
Jan introduces some new faces on the Bombcast!https://t.co/bW7p49OGqQ pic.twitter.com/YDv7HZHQBs
â Worldâs Famous Giant Bomb (@giantbomb) June 7, 2022
He ended the opening statement with a message that the site and its team will âcontinue to change and adaptâ and shared that the site is not just about video games but also about âfamily.â
Giant Bombâs new creative director, Dan Ryckert, was also there for the broadcast and admitted that âThereâs been a lot of change since I leftâ but that he was excited to work with this team on this new era of the site as he had already worked with many of the people already and knew they were great.
âI really canât wait to hit the ground running with you guys,â said Ryckert.
Not present for the new podcast was Jeff Gerstmann, which many fans found odd considering how exits have been handled in the past at the site. Instead, Jeff spent a large chunk of today streaming via his own Twitch channel and promoting his newly created Patreon.
While plans are still in the air about what everything will be called and how all of this will workâwith Gerstmann admitting at one point during the stream that he might need a websiteâmany have already flocked to support the former Giant Bomb leader. As of 4:25 p.m ET on June 7, Gerstmannâs Patreon page had already reached 3,990 subscribers.
According to him and his Patreon page, the plan currently is to create a weekly podcast, monthly shows dedicated to specific old games that he loves, and frequent Twitch streams. As for why Gerstmann is doing this and not just retiring or something else outside of games, he closed his first stream today explaining that he just loves doing this.
He further elaborated on his Patreon page that working under a corporation was starting to become a drag:
The problem is that doing a lot of this work for someone else means that a chunk of your behind-the-scenes time is taken up with meetings and staring at traffic numbers and various types of hand-wringing. This aspect of the business seems like itâs only getting worse as the years go on. So itâs time for me to do something about that and reclaim that time for more useful endeavors.
During a livestream today, Gerstmann looked back at this time at GameSpot, Giant Bomb, and now his new solo venture and added that âitâs been a real fucking weird ride these last three decades.
âIâm doing this because I love to do it. And I hope you have a good time with me. Itâs a very exciting time. Itâs a very crazy time.â
He also took a moment to thank everyone who had helped him, including his former coworkers, stopping to admit that it was âpretty crazyâ to realize that he was no longer working with them anymore. As for the new version of Giant Bomb, Gerstman hoped for the best.
âI wish them the best. They are off to the races,â explained Gerstmann.
