The Escapist staff resign following termination of editor-in-chief Nick Calandra

azdle@news.idlestate.org to Gaming@beehaw.org – 175 points –
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Calandra shared more information on Discord, revealing that the "entire video team" has resigned in response.

This includes Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, who created the video review series Zero Punctuation.

Confirmation from Yahtzee: https://nitter.net/YahtzeeCroshaw/status/1721687212541280425

Today, I formally resigned from The Escapist and Gamurs. I don't have the rights to Zero Punctuation, but whatever happens you'll be hearing my voice again soon, in a new place. Join this discord for updates in the coming days: discord.gg/uFNQKKh6Jq

From the linked Discord:

nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 5:47 PM @everyone since things are happening fast, the entire Escapist video team has either been fired or resigned as of tonight / tomorrow.

This Discord will become the place for what's coming next.

More news tomorrow.

nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 6:22 PM Resignations and firings pinned here:

https://twitter.com/Darren_Mooney/status/1721683973506568532
https://twitter.com/TheOtherFrost/status/1721683636410261846
https://twitter.com/DesignDelve/status/1721677391368425571
https://twitter.com/nickjcal/status/1721640314203464045
https://twitter.com/YahtzeeCroshaw/status/1721687212541280425
https://twitter.com/JanjoZone/status/1721697403097542874
https://twitter.com/RexiconJesse/status/1721719792007090444
https://twitter.com/_mattjlaughlin/status/1721714880859042098
https://twitter.com/willcblogs/status/1721704228182274123
https://twitter.com/SigmaGears9/status/1721695395376415162
https://twitter.com/ParkesHarman/status/1721692595166794023
https://twitter.com/sassqueenamy/status/1721693823729066025
https://twitter.com/McBiggitty/status/1721922759368872016
https://twitter.com/Harlack/status/1721906693620273233

nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 8:28 PM @everyone we're going to set the Discord to read-only for the rest of tonight so we can get other work done that we need to do.

Tomorrow you will know more about what our plans are for the future, along with a livestream on Wednesday at 11 AM CT.

We'll share the links to where all that will be tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you SO MUCH for the support. It means a lot to the whole team and we're excited for what we're cooking up next.

Please be good to one another and keep the positivity up. What happened happened and if you've been with the new version of The Escapist since 2019, you know we just keep moving forward.

We're excited and you should be too.

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As has been said I'm sure without Yahtzee the site is basically over.

Which is too bad I really enjoyed extra punctuation and the Slightly Something Else podcast. The whole point of having a subscriber model is that you're not beholden to advertising or the algorithm or nebulous corporate goals, as the hosts have aid many times.

I guess it goes to show getting acquired by a corp only ever benefits the corp

This reminds me a lot of what happened to Waypoint with Vice. They were running on an ad-based model since their inception, and then they launched Waypoint Plus (their subscription model) to basically save themselves from extinction. Then Vice itself hit the bankruptcy wall, so the Waypoint staff were all laid off because, while Waypoint Plus was profitable and sustainable, it wasn't growing.

Then the laid off staff just launched their own subscription-based small business and, at least for now, it seems like they're better off. Based on other comments, it looks like that is what the Escapist Staff is doing with Second Wind.

Is that Aftermath? I just started reading it today.

I'm also a fan of 404 media, started by motherboard defectors.

I worry about subscription fatigue setting in, but I do think it's exciting that breakway independent media is seemingly having a moment right now

Haha Aftermath is ex-Kotaku staff, although they do have Gita Jackson, who was with Vice and Motherboard for a while after she left Kotaku. The ex-Waypoint staff is Remap!

I'm with you on subscription-fatigue, I love the Remap crew and maintain my sub with them for now. The thing is, I think this whole thing works better if all of us gaming enthusiasts continue to read and share everything from every subscription-based outlets, and then only sub to our favorite one or two. The problem with the ad-based model was that there was not enough money to go around, even if the engagement from individual users was high. Ads were paying less and less, and a small, highly-engaged audience can only generate so many clicks. With the subscription model, everyone subscribes to their faves, and then outlets are rewarded for catering to a niche. This is what most of these small outlets were doing best anyway, so i personally think it works out well. Eventually there has to be an upper limit to how many of these outlets can survive, but i think the ceiling is a little higher than most people think.

The entire video team has moved here:
https://twitter.com/SecondWindGroup
https://www.twitch.tv/secondwindgroup
https://www.youtube.com/@SecondWindGroup

how many names can there be left for outlets that rose out of the ashes of other outlets? Second Wind, Remap, Aftermath, Nextlander...i didn't think I would see this kind of name become a "genre" in my lifetime.

Given how much time they've had to think about branding, I'm not sure that this is necessarily the name that they'll stick with. But I think that it's probably -- while this is in the news -- a good move to get people looking at some channel that they do control, so that if they come up with something else, they can tell people about it.

no i mean to be clear, i know that names are hard! you have to think of something that's catchy but also unique enough to google but also doesn't sound stupid and also kind of signifies what your outlet is about...it's hard! And most of the outlets i named also had to come up with their names within a 2-week period where they had no jobs but had to scramble to pick a name while their names were still in the news. You and I are on the same page here.

The Cold Takes videos makes me feel like I'm getting some scotch and sitting down and listening to an old friend talk about games in a 1950s detective style bar.