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Jeff Gerstmann is leaving Giant Bomb

Still not sure how to feel about the podcast. 3 hours is too long, especially if it’s one person rambling into a microphone. I miss the dynamic of people talking to eachother
100% agree. I want to support Jeff but he doesn’t seem to be going into each week with much of a plan OR he’s just not as good at riffing on his own as he thinks he is.

He should do a Marc Maron style interview show, he’s got enough contacts to start something like that off and if he captures that E3/“Giant Bomb at Nite” vibe it’d be great.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Doing a solo podcast is incredibly tough. 3 hours solo is over the top. I like Jeff's podcast but he could shorten it or bring in a crew if he wants to do 3 hours. Feedback and playing off others are necessary at that point. He had a guest recently and it flowed rather nicely for the 3 hours.
 

Sorcerer

Member
It sounds like they knew Jeff was unhappy/planning to leave anyway and they just pushed him out the door, making the decision for him. Perhaps hostile feelings about their main guy abandoning them. The week after Jeff left, the remaining Bomb crew talked about how important Jeff was to the show and how they wished him well in future endeavors. I wonder if there was any sincerity in that?
 
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I wonder how his contract was written for being fired or quit.
Sounds like he didn't like the new management.
 
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Bridges

Member
I'm glad he finally addressed this.

For those who didn't watch the clip, he says he was told that nothing he wanted to do with the site was going to happen. He had planned to stay to finish E3 coverage and make his exit, but three weeks before his planned departure they decided to fire him. He does not know exactly why they made that decision. (he also mentions that he turned down an offer to leave GB for another outfit which is interesting but he didn't believe it to be a good fit. Maybe Nextlander?)

Jeff is a good dude. He's clearly way happier and engaged with his work now than he's been in years. I don't love his solo cast but it's a lot more listenable than GB has been for awhile. Sounds like he's still on good terms with the crew at GB too so maybe now that they're changing hands yet again they might start to pop up on each other's channels.
 

Sorcerer

Member
I'm glad he finally addressed this.

For those who didn't watch the clip, he says he was told that nothing he wanted to do with the site was going to happen. He had planned to stay to finish E3 coverage and make his exit, but three weeks before his planned departure they decided to fire him. He does not know exactly why they made that decision. (he also mentions that he turned down an offer to leave GB for another outfit which is interesting but he didn't believe it to be a good fit. Maybe Nextlander?)

Jeff is a good dude. He's clearly way happier and engaged with his work now than he's been in years. I don't love his solo cast but it's a lot more listenable than GB has been for awhile. Sounds like he's still on good terms with the crew at GB too so maybe now that they're changing hands yet again they might start to pop up on each other's channels.
I misunderstood the gist of it, thinking the other members he did the show with wanted him out. I guess it was upper management, but that's always strange for me because I always think it was Jeff's show, and he was the boss, but I forget that it's been in different hands over the years.
 
I'm glad he finally addressed this.

For those who didn't watch the clip, he says he was told that nothing he wanted to do with the site was going to happen. He had planned to stay to finish E3 coverage and make his exit, but three weeks before his planned departure they decided to fire him. He does not know exactly why they made that decision. (he also mentions that he turned down an offer to leave GB for another outfit which is interesting but he didn't believe it to be a good fit. Maybe Nextlander?)

Jeff is a good dude. He's clearly way happier and engaged with his work now than he's been in years. I don't love his solo cast but it's a lot more listenable than GB has been for awhile. Sounds like he's still on good terms with the crew at GB too so maybe now that they're changing hands yet again they might start to pop up on each other's channels.
Sounds like they were pushing him to quit but he didn't. Better to get fired in this sense anyway, can collect unemployment benefits.
 

SpiceRacz

Member
Doing a solo podcast is incredibly tough. 3 hours solo is over the top. I like Jeff's podcast but he could shorten it or bring in a crew if he wants to do 3 hours. Feedback and playing off others are necessary at that point. He had a guest recently and it flowed rather nicely for the 3 hours.

His solo podcast is better than Nextlander and the Bombcast. Maybe I'm a weirdo, but I could listen to Jeff rant about video games and whatever else for hours.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Sounds like they were pushing him to quit but he didn't. Better to get fired in this sense anyway, can collect unemployment benefits.
Severance package too.

Also, what people dont know is you can also negotiate a severance leave package on your own. But for this to work you need an employer willing to listen, worker and bosses have good relations and the employee is valuable enough it's better to let him willingly go with some cash than have a bored or pissed worker not putting in effort.

I know many people who have done this All they did was ask their bosses for a modest pay out to leave and they agreed. They werent fired. They simply left to pursue other opportunities.
 

supernova8

Banned
Meh I like Jeff just from the whole Kane and Lynch thing. Also I loved the crew back when they were doing the launch bonanza long streams for like PSVita, PS4 etc. It was just a chill atmosphere and everyone seemed to gel well.

I actually watched their reaction to Silent Hill 2 remake and... not sure who the woman is but fucking hell she would not shut the fuck up. You could tell the other people wanted her to shut the fuck up but couldn't say it.
 

Naru

Member
His solo podcast is better than Nextlander and the Bombcast. Maybe I'm a weirdo, but I could listen to Jeff rant about video games and whatever else for hours.
Complete opposite for me. His never ending ramblings about the same stuff did get on my nerves. Like, "you just talked about this the last 15 minutes, please stop... we get it." It is also too much about him if he is only there by himself and I think that is super boring. He seems super unhappy and angry about everything unless someone else is on the show like Danny last time.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Meh I like Jeff just from the whole Kane and Lynch thing. Also I loved the crew back when they were doing the launch bonanza long streams for like PSVita, PS4 etc. It was just a chill atmosphere and everyone seemed to gel well.

I actually watched their reaction to Silent Hill 2 remake and... not sure who the woman is but fucking hell she would not shut the fuck up. You could tell the other people wanted her to shut the fuck up but couldn't say it.
Giant Bomb was great back in 2015 or so, then things got too market wise and less fun by the time

Mario Party party, endurance, the E3 Talk Over, the guest appearances...

I don't want to point fingers at it, but since Abby was hired (a girl who is definitely not a gamer), things got downhill
 
It sounds like they knew Jeff was unhappy/planning to leave anyway and they just pushed him out the door, making the decision for him. Perhaps hostile feelings about their main guy abandoning them. The week after Jeff left, the remaining Bomb crew talked about how important Jeff was to the show and how they wished him well in future endeavors. I wonder if there was any sincerity in that?
About as sincere as when Colin got ousted from Kinda Funny.
 

FeastYoEyes

Member
Jeff had been miserable for a while at Giant Bomb and it was obvious. The setup he has now can be good but his Patreon podcast is rather boring (no I don't care to hear the same stories he talked about on the Bombcast for years already) and his main one he still is dismissive of a lot of games and doesn't seem to be enjoying himself.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Severance package too.

Also, what people dont know is you can also negotiate a severance leave package on your own. But for this to work you need an employer willing to listen, worker and bosses have good relations and the employee is valuable enough it's better to let him willingly go with some cash than have a bored or pissed worker not putting in effort.

I know many people who have done this All they did was ask their bosses for a modest pay out to leave and they agreed. They werent fired. They simply left to pursue other opportunities.

I am curious about this as well. If he got a severance package, why did he rush his Patreon so quickly. Also, don’t severance packages include language preventing the former employee disclosing the conditions of their departure?

It’s also somewhat troubling that RV already sold Giant Bomb off. If I were there, I’d be looking for other work.
 
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SCB3

Member
I don't want to point fingers at it, but since Abby was hired (a girl who is definitely not a gamer), things got downhill
It wasn't her fault (or Ben's in fact) she actually hada few good ideas and series that really needed some tweaking or refining imo but that was the beginning of the end, for me it was the Splitting between West and East that spelt the end of GB
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
It sounds like they knew Jeff was unhappy/planning to leave anyway and they just pushed him out the door, making the decision for him. Perhaps hostile feelings about their main guy abandoning them. The week after Jeff left, the remaining Bomb crew talked about how important Jeff was to the show and how they wished him well in future endeavors. I wonder if there was any sincerity in that?

Jan gave the statement and I firmly believe he meant it, I don't think anyone on that panel had any animosity towards the mastermind behind the show they were working on.

If anything it sounded as if the execs said to them "you can give him a brief farewell message and that's it".

Not surprised to hear this in the least, anyway, but boy did they lose their main appeal and now they've sold it off. Great going, suits!
 

Evil Calvin

Afraid of Boobs
It wasn't her fault (or Ben's in fact) she actually hada few good ideas and series that really needed some tweaking or refining imo but that was the beginning of the end, for me it was the Splitting between West and East that spelt the end of GB
Abby was definitely one of the main reasons for the downward spiral. She offered gripping reviews and takes of The Sims 4, Nancy Drew and Dream Daddy. She was a non-gamer and really provided nothing. There were soooo many more qualified female gamers out there who would have done better.

The nail in the coffin though was COVID. When they were all at home and isolated, it would have been the perfect time to stream more content since they were all at home anyway. But amazingly, they provided MUCH less. Many people unsubscribed from their premium service and they were mainly quiet. Often there would be only a couple videos a week. How could that happen with a crew of around 8 people at the time?
 
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Thaedolus

Member
Yeah I doubt Jeff has any animosity toward the other talent, sounds like an upper management decision. I mean, I got walked a week before my last day once. I didn’t hold it against my direct manager or other team members, or the gal I was training to replace me. Just upper management suits making a call and I was like “lol ok, one more week off before I start my next position starts…”

Even if the content quality has dropped off since the original talent left, nobody on there now seems like a shitbag. Just not my cup of tea. I doubt Gerstmann would be getting Ben and Danny and the like on his show if people in their circle had hard feelings toward him or vice versa.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Yeah I doubt Jeff has any animosity toward the other talent, sounds like an upper management decision. I mean, I got walked a week before my last day once. I didn’t hold it against my direct manager or other team members, or the gal I was training to replace me. Just upper management suits making a call and I was like “lol ok, one more week off before I start my next position starts…”

Even if the content quality has dropped off since the original talent left, nobody on there now seems like a shitbag. Just not my cup of tea. I doubt Gerstmann would be getting Ben and Danny and the like on his show if people in their circle had hard feelings toward him or vice versa.

I think it’s shitty how they responded to his departure with that bs article, but I don’t have any illwill against any of them. That said, I also refuse to give their content the time of day. There are better content creators out there.

Even with Jeff, I only check in sporadically, as he is not really offering anything new or intriguing. If Jeff turns his shit into solid interviews with industry players, I’ll be all in.

Danny is the only one I still somewhat follow, as the NoClip stuff is still top tier.

All that said, I think GB will close doors in the next year or two. It’s a lifeless husk of what it used to be. The soul of the site is gone. Being owned by Fandom is just another stop toward the final destination.
 
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jaysius

Banned
Not even sure what he was doing in the past few years anyway, fanbois say “background stuff” GB is the lowest content output of any of the higher traffic sites out there.

Some pencil pusher probably finally went to the website and realized this.

GB was dead when Ryan Davis passed.

Also even a bit before that when they tiered up their content with shitty subs.

Guess Jeff can find the main characters of GB that are alive and make another site, maybe Downward Pointing Arrow? Or Miniscule Bomb?
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I am curious about this as well. If he got a severance package, why did he rush his Patreon so quickly. Also, don’t severance packages include language preventing the former employee disclosing the conditions of their departure?

It’s also somewhat troubling that RV already sold Giant Bomb off. If I were there, I’d be looking for other work.

Yes to NDA. They must be ultra hardcore.

The people I’ve known to get severance packages (due to being fired or mutually agreed to) have rarely told me the pay out. Only family have and if my old coworkers told me the company had a company wide voluntary leave pay out calculator.

But for any typical pay out, even my best friends have never told me when I asked. There must be some kind of counter suit saying if they find out anyone else knows the details they take you to court and get their money back or something.
 
I feel like the current Giant Bomb peeps are trying to hard to be entertaining. It's not that laid-back style anymore like I felt the old crew had going. That was like you watched a bunch of friends casually playing a videogame and talking about it, instead of a crew of 'strangers' trying to steal the show.
Or maybe something like that has to grow and you can't force it, I don't know..
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Yes to NDA. They must be ultra hardcore.

The people I’ve known to get severance packages (due to being fired or mutually agreed to) have rarely told me the pay out. Only family have and if my old coworkers told me the company had a company wide voluntary leave pay out calculator.

But for any typical pay out, even my best friends have never told me when I asked. There must be some kind of counter suit saying if they find out anyone else knows the details they take you to court and get their money back or something.
I know what my company does but that’s about it. It’s usually a duration based on years worked. It was uncapped but after we fired some long timers, they capped it at 3 months. Though I’m certain one could negotiate more depending on the circumstances.

Anyway, him spilling this makes me think he got fucked over pretty hard. At least he got his payout when CBS bought Whiskey.
 

TheMan

Member
Meh I like Jeff just from the whole Kane and Lynch thing. Also I loved the crew back when they were doing the launch bonanza long streams for like PSVita, PS4 etc. It was just a chill atmosphere and everyone seemed to gel well.

I actually watched their reaction to Silent Hill 2 remake and... not sure who the woman is but fucking hell she would not shut the fuck up. You could tell the other people wanted her to shut the fuck up but couldn't say it.
That’s Jess aka Voidburger. Silent Hill is basically her thing so I’m not surprised she had a lot to say lol
 

Thaedolus

Member
I think it’s shitty how they responded to his departure with that bs article, but I don’t have any illwill against any of them. That said, I also refuse to give their content the time of day. There are better content creators out there.

Even with Jeff, I only check in sporadically, as he is not really offering anything new or intriguing. If Jeff turns his shit into solid interviews with industry players, I’ll be all in.

Danny is the only one I still somewhat follow, as the NoClip stuff is still top tier.

All that said, I think GB will close doors in the next year or two. It’s a lifeless husk of what it used to be. The soul of the site is gone. Being owned by Fandom is just another stop toward the final destination.
Yeah I don’t think I’ve listened to a full episode since he left, and nothing at all outside of the dump truck after that first week. And even the dump truck I don’t bother with anymore. Gerstmann I’ll listen to somewhat regularly because he’s still interesting even on his own, and if I see he has a guest I almost always tune in.

But I’m done with Giant Bomb. All the personalities are fine but they’re not doing anything I really care about. Nextlander is ok but I maybe check in once a month. Kind of a bummer, I used to really look forward to the Bombcast every week and now it’s all stratified into these other things that don’t really interest me. Maybe I’m getting old
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Meh I like Jeff just from the whole Kane and Lynch thing. Also I loved the crew back when they were doing the launch bonanza long streams for like PSVita, PS4 etc. It was just a chill atmosphere and everyone seemed to gel well.

I actually watched their reaction to Silent Hill 2 remake and... not sure who the woman is but fucking hell she would not shut the fuck up. You could tell the other people wanted her to shut the fuck up but couldn't say it.

She stinks. Loud, obnoxious, and always talking over people. She is the reason I tapped out on the new show.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
It wasn't her fault (or Ben's in fact) she actually hada few good ideas and series that really needed some tweaking or refining imo but that was the beginning of the end, for me it was the Splitting between West and East that spelt the end of GB
Of course wasn't her fault, but I think it was the first sign of the downfall. Abby was hired and played Resident Evil 4 for the first time in the show. I mean, c'mon... Don't remember her ideas outside from video editing/direction, which were actually great - I remember some videlog or something, which gave a closer vibe to the crew. Ben was kinda boring, but he knew shit

Drew left and was probably the first big loss. Took a while but Dan also left, and everyone knew that was just a matter of time to the root guys to leave. They had a good run

Maybe one day we can have a memorial thing for those sites. We need to show the generations ahead how gaming journalism was in the glory days of the internet. Hell, we may never have something like this
fo94PfS.png
 

SCB3

Member
Of course wasn't her fault, but I think it was the first sign of the downfall. Abby was hired and played Resident Evil 4 for the first time in the show. I mean, c'mon... Don't remember her ideas outside from video editing/direction, which were actually great - I remember some videlog or something, which gave a closer vibe to the crew. Ben was kinda boring, but he knew shit

Drew left and was probably the first big loss. Took a while but Dan also left, and everyone knew that was just a matter of time to the root guys to leave. They had a good run

Maybe one day we can have a memorial thing for those sites. We need to show the generations ahead how gaming journalism was in the glory days of the internet. Hell, we may never have something like this
fo94PfS.png
I fully believe that Nextlander will get Jeff and Drew in eventually, it feels like an early days successor that needs time to grow first to not end up like Easy Allies has and too bloated
 

TexMex

Member
It’s so sad to see the greatest gaming site in original GB be reduced to a site that has a podcast about Green Day, My Chemical Romance or some shit front and center when I load it up.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Yea, like others have mentioned, GB was the absolute best site in gaming for a few years there. The Bombcast and Beastcast were so damn funny and entertaining.

It's really bizarre that Jeff has consistently been ahead of the curve when it comes to content but dude always gets worked over by management.

I haven't follow him in years though, GB just got incredibly boring after a while and I honestly couldn't stand one of the (at the time) newer hires, tall dude who mumbled and breathes through his mouth. Everything he was in was unwatchable for me.

Either way, hopefully Jeff is doing fine and there's always things to go back to and revisit for laughs. I've posted this before but this is hands down one of the most entertaining streams of all time.

 

TwinB242

Member
I feel like the current Giant Bomb peeps are trying to hard to be entertaining. It's not that laid-back style anymore like I felt the old crew had going. That was like you watched a bunch of friends casually playing a videogame and talking about it, instead of a crew of 'strangers' trying to steal the show.
Or maybe something like that has to grow and you can't force it, I don't know..

This echoes my current feelings on the site. Before they would do dumb, ridiculous things but that stuff was funny because it would come naturally as they were doing their gaming related shows and content. Now they go out of their way to be stupid and it just feels like they're trying too hard. The recent Bombathon stream is the perfect example of this, they opened with some dumb challenges where the staff members would put on costumes and film themselves walking through Brooklyn in them and it just came off as overly silly and not at all the type of content I want from the site.
 
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bender

What time is it?
It wasn't her fault (or Ben's in fact) she actually hada few good ideas and series that really needed some tweaking or refining imo but that was the beginning of the end, for me it was the Splitting between West and East that spelt the end of GB

Opinions and all but for a personality driven site, I skipped all the content she was involved in as she grated my nerves. I didn't care for most of the hires after Ryan passed away but at least Patrick and Austin were articulate and Dan, as annoying as his babe in the woods persona is, was a content monster and had an work ethic like no one else on staff.
 

rkofan87

Gold Member
Meh I like Jeff just from the whole Kane and Lynch thing. Also I loved the crew back when they were doing the launch bonanza long streams for like PSVita, PS4 etc. It was just a chill atmosphere and everyone seemed to gel well.

I actually watched their reaction to Silent Hill 2 remake and... not sure who the woman is but fucking hell she would not shut the fuck up. You could tell the other people wanted her to shut the fuck up but couldn't say it.
she is an sh superfan so i well give jess a pass not a fan or anything just i know she loves sh.
 
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