Jeff Gerstmann Elaborates on Departure From Giant Bomb

[@Barbabonbon]

jeff is an alegory to the game industry itself and how the people that truly love games are the one the industry does not want to work with

[@ElAssoWipe-o]

But he supports the very thing that ruined the game industry though.

[@Sammo212]

The funniest thing is how so many die hards were angrily telling people who said, "Yo, this looks like he was fired or let go" that they were crazy. The site was already super weird with Alex, Brad, and Vinny leaving but Jeff leaving was, for me, a nail in the coffin of Giant Bomb. The podcast and vibes of the site were already weird in his last few months but...man, things change but I miss Giant Bomb. I had to just quit the site entirely or become resentful.

[@spectralmuffin6487]

Yeah outside of dan I have 0 interest in anyone else on that site and their opinions on anything, wish them the best just sad to see it go this way

[@furrymessiah]

Jeff will always be my number one trusted video game guy, but I quit giving a shit about Giant Bomb as soon as Brad left.

[@Sammo212]

@@furrymessiah Pretty much the same. I had really stopped listening to the podcast because it just wasn't fun anymore. That Voidburger lady's vibes just didn't gel at all with me and Bakalar felt, to me, totally different from when he was on GB East.

[@pleasedontwatchthese9593]

It felt like something was going on and it was a fire or quite type thing, like one or the other was going to happen soon.

[@TheDeeps6911]

TDS is deadly

[@travismcnasty51]

The things that I like are gone, and there is nothing to replace them.

[@yillanayo7913]

It's a weird thing when founders are forced out of something that they themselves embody but it's not at all uncommon.

[@Noname15514]

Ever since wokeness came into the fray it's been downhill for gaming websites since.

[@Sammo212]

@@Noname15514 it is insane to think back on early Giant Bomb...hell, pre-CBS Giant, and the wild shit that got pulled both in the podcast and live.

[@tylerbennett5282]

@@Noname15514 What a stooge

[@CoreyDWillis]

@@Noname15514 Sorry, but every host new and old is pretty woke, which is a good thing. Blaming the vague "wokeness" isn't the reason Giant Bomb slowly declined, bud.

[@lothar71]

Using wokeness as a term means you are an idiot @@Noname15514

[@CostaApostolou]

Jeff keeps getting fired but he always comes up on top.

[@Toltendo]

@D D Found the Fandom mod from the swamp!

[@InternetSlumlord]

@DD-zh4by He's already talked about how what his thing is now isn't permanent. He's talked about traveling more and having some sort of set. I'm guessing he'll hire a person or two eventually. Things are still weird with everyone coming off the pandemic.

[@Andorski]

​@@vpofrentemspoons2278what not touching a woman does to a mfer.

[@ElAssoWipe-o]

Nope. Gerstmann supports the woke crap that ruined the gaming industry which is why his subs on his channel are have remained stagnant. All Jeff have for supporters are like five people with a bunch of alternate accounts that they use to try to ratio anyone that tells the truth LMAO

[@MMaRsu]

Jeff Gerstmann still a threat!

[@ImadeOriginal]

Well he's killing it now man, damn

[@HiCZoK]

damn. He created the brand

[@hobosnake1]

Yep, and it died when he left too.

[@Pokerit]

@@hobosnake1 it died a long time ago

[@hobosnake1]

@Pokerit I still enjoyed it for Jeff's presence. I agree, it was a long and consistent decline in quality at giant bomb. I'm just glad Jeff is still doing stuff.

[@kevinfinnerty8414]

It started going gradually downhill after Ryan Davis died.

[@Noname15514]

HE is the not only guy that created it.

[@Fahrenheit38]

Look at the views Giant Bomb gets now, they pay an entire staff, have studio space, get less views than a kid streaming png game. Media has changed

[@stevenscott1479]

Jeff will sometimes stream during giantbomb streams and beats them in views, by hundreds of viewers too.

[@Fahrenheit38]

@@stevenscott1479 it's sad, I wanna like the content giant bomb makes, they were huge in my life back in the day. Thier content now is so boring compared to Jeff, one dude sitting in a room.

[@migrations]

@@Fahrenheit38 Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts on this. Why did they think Jeff Bakalar was the suitable fit to start running things? Did Bakalar and Gerstmann butt heads? I tried listening to the bombcast after the OGs left and it became a fragment of it's former self. Now we get to hear pinball talk instead of talking about new emulators that have been released. I like some of the guys but I especially dislike Jan Ochoa (sp). I think Jan has major theater kid energy in a bad way and I think he tries to be more of a goofy funny guy than a critical game journalist the way the past cast was.

[@Fahrenheit38]

@@migrations I feel ya on the Jan stuff, I'm not sure who the current product is for but it's not for me and going by the views not for a lot of people.

[@MMaRsu]

Nobody wants to watch these new hacks.. Id rather go back to Nextlander and Jeff streams instead

[@anthonyt1t5]

Jeff is the funniest guy in the gaming industry.

[@Gertso]

So underrated. Most of his dry humor seemed to be lost on many of the members of Giantbomb often with several seconds of silence after he would crack a joke. It's fun seeing him full solo now unleashed.

[@HorseheadNebula85]

I identify so much with what he's talking about, even in the midst of the comedy and absurdity of it. The corporate world is bloodthirsty as fuck, and they will ALWAYS try to make you feel as emasculated, worn down, and overall fucking worthless as they possibly can. I left a job in local news because I was reprimanded for reaching out to the previous person who held my job in the hopes of getting her insight about ways in which I could improve. Management found out about it within 24 hours and gave me a write-up. Our general manager told me I was never to do anything like that again, and if I had concerns about the role, I was welcome to address them with HIM alone. Nevermind that he was out of the office managing another station 2/3rds of the week. I quickly found another job (this time in higher education) and put in my notice, making him very fucking AWARE that I was leaving and putting him in a shitty spot due to his own bad decision-making. Of course I said it diplomatically. Within the next few hours I was told to pack my desk up and get the fuck out, that I was fired. I am SO much fucking happier now. Thank God we've got guys like Jeff who will continue to work tirelessly to bring us an unfiltered look at the games industry.

[@Noname15514]

Ever since wokeness took over it's been downhill.

[@alexwilkie854]

​@@Noname15514Jesus christ what a shitty reply to a good comment

[@XXLpinut]

Wait a second. This guy founded Giant Bomb with Ryan Davis. You can't fire him. Blasphemy.

[@gvulture1277]

He made really bad buisness decisions with Ryan and after Ryan, he sold Giant Bomb because I guess at the time they had no faith that games media was at a point where you could be funded by fans and sponsors to keep the buisness yours and pay the staff.

[@LimitedEditionDoritosBag]

⁠​⁠@@gvulture1277You have no clue what you’re talking about. Jeff and Ryan didn’t own Giant Bomb or Whiskey Media, and the guy who did own them sold Giant Bomb to CBS. This all happened while Ryan was still alive

[@youtubing9762]

​@@gvulture1277literally no idea what you're talking about

[@messiahmozgus]

​@@LimitedEditionDoritosBagThanks. Still sad as hell.

[@Grah-pj1rs]

When Brad Vinny and Alex it was bad, now that Jeff left there’s no reason to even go on the site anymore feels completely different.

[@Jerry4050]

Only Dan Ryckert is making it watchable but they let go employees so fast. There was a blonde girl forgot her name only lasted a couple of months and now she is gone.

[@travismcnasty51]

That company is dead.

[@crazyad8]

I enjoy going back to the demo derbys , rip giant bomb. Bums me out how much optimism there was on a friendly return. We’ll still keep following you Jeff whatever blockchain we end up meeting you on 👽

[@spencerblack9467]

That’s not true

[@messiahmozgus]

Imposters destroying another gaming company. always remember to gatekeep.

[@mattyjohnsson257]

Giant Bomb is dead now. Thanks for the laughs.

[@CAVERWOOD]

Giant Bomb jumped the shark when they got rid of that old couch and chair. Long live GB. Miss Unprofessional Fridays!

[@djspyd2000]

God bless this man 🙏 he is a true gaming treasure ❤

[@Mr.Pop0]

I burried giantbomb that day.

[@GreggyAck]

I buried it around the time Jess joined.

[@messiahmozgus]

Jeff just hasnt been Jeff without Ryan. I try to keep up with him but their chemistry was the real deal.

[@materg7505]

I’d love to ask Jeff about the initial sale of GB, the first one. If he regrets it or if it needed to happen etc.

[@spinnigold]

I wish he’d do more with Nextlander, I miss him a lot-it’s not quite right just him by himself…what a mess, man

[@Andorski]

Haven't really followed GB for a while now. Is there bad blood between Vinny/Alex/Brad and Jeff these days? I get that the Nextlander guys and other GB alum (e.g. Dan) collaborate with the current GB which Jeff obviously wouldn't want to participate in, but why doesn't Jeff show up on Nextlander every once in a while?

[@zebunker]

They are a sad lot. Used to be journalists. Some competing with cam girls for views. PATREON DAY 1 are you kidding me HHAHAH. They had the audacity to label it a business plan. Plus, they are censoring all chat and disabled KZbin comments. DADDY CAN DO NO WRONG

[@MrXmoda]

@@Andorski It certainly seems like there is as Jeff has had and been on many other guest's and interviews but nothing with Nextlander.

[@stevenpick9451]

@@MrXmoda Might be speculation saying that? I know it must have been a real kick in the balls for three of the main GB crew to bow out like that. I remember the podcast when it was announced and it was kinda crazy but also kinda expected in a weird way.

[@cmoody01]

@@stevenpick9451 it might be that jeff asked the nextlander crew to stick around to try to save giantbomb and they didnt. Or maybe jeff refused to leave with them. I certainly hope its not that Jeff did something weird.

[@Jammet]

Wait, what? Did he not FOUND Giant Bomb? I just hear about this and I can't believe my ears.

[@IamJacksColon4]

end of an era. but honestly as gaming is dying we can look back and be happy it happened. the xbox 360 ps3 era was the best era of gaming, both in terms of quantity and quality of games but also vg journalism. jeff and the gamespot/giantbomb crew were amazing and i remember their podcasts fondly. it was a great era to be alive. thanks.

[@Noname15514]

Gaming went w0ke and now they're going broke.

[@RobSomeone]

Something large was missing with Ryan's passing and Jeff never seemed to have the same gusto ever again. Then with Nextlander leaving, it was the end of an era.

[@Sammo212]

I don't know, I think that when Dan joined he perked up and he seemed to find some familiarity in Ben.

[@Pendarr]

​@@Sammo212The Jeff and Ben duo was so fun. I really was sad when Ben left because he seemed to bring out a lot of joy in Jeff. Something about his sense of humor just seemed to hit him just right

[@Sammo212]

@@Pendarr I agree but sadly I never really clicked with Ben. I liked Ben more than I did Abby (though its not like I disliked Abby from Brooklyn).

[@Jerry4050]

If only he edits his videos I'll watch it because I end up sleeping if it's more then three hours. No offense to Jeff since I have seen him in Gamespot back in 2006. Honestly he works better in a team. I wished he goes to Nextlander.

[@ダルマック]

Yeah he really works best with an editor, be it text, audio or video. I supported for a while after he left but after a few months of hours-long videos of Jeff just talking to/about himself I had to bounce. I would love to see him guest on Nextlander stuff though.

[@Sammo212]

So many people say they love to hear him ramble but I agree he works the best when he has someone to play off of.

[@GVilleAnarcho]

Nah, I'll listen to him go on for hours. It's great. I honestly would have never thought that I would be into listening to one dude talk about games and the industry for as long as he does every podcast, but fuck me, I tune in every week.

[@plaidpunk]

WOW.

[@theuspsclerk]

Giant Bomb was on a slow decline ever since the tragic loss of Ryan. I didn’t even know Jeff wasn’t on the podcast anymore, let alone had his own podcast now. I’ll have to start listening to that.

[@twiggylahey3691]

Ryan chocked on his fat

[@dsfgasdgqweq3456t534]

It's great, and game Boyz 2 men, his other podcast, is amazing!

[@Noname15514]

Then wokeness came in and finished the job.

[@theuspsclerk]

@@Noname15514 agreed. It was definitely a big reason I stopped listening.

[@Zagardal]

​@@Noname15514 "wokeness" sure buddy lol

[@shioq.]

Hitsmas was the best. RIP

[@FrostyLicks]

I just wonder why he hasn't been on next lander or talked about it in anyway. It just adds to speculation that there are bad feelings between the old GB crew and of course that doesn't sit well with any of us.

[@JedoDre]

I don't understand how the owner/shareholder could be ok with something like this, let alone want it to happen. The original crew of GB were Giant Bomb. The personalities were the thing, and without them, the thing cannot exist. I know in some cases a company outgrows its owners and eventually can continue existing on its own, but with GB, (I think) this is definitely not the case. To me, the end started when their crew started getting increasingly watered down with new people I didn't particularly care for. And now, Nextlander + Jeff are sort of like a framented shadow of GB, occasionally entertaining, mostly in the form of podcast.

[@Dr_Mel]

If they were dumb enough to fire jeff from giant bomb, jeff was right to quit. I don't wish bad things on the current GB people, because they're all nice people, but they should just fold it into GameSpot. It would probably make more sense and get them more exposure at that point. It's basically an IGN/gamespot type of site but mildly off topic and quirky.

[@Noname15514]

The w0ke don't care.

[@Dr_Mel]

@@Noname15514 so what's the angle here, you're bored and want to get into an argument for fun?

[@matthall7359]

@@Noname15514bro is all over here crying about wokenes lmfao what a sensitive little soyboy

[@TroupeGoal]

But wasn't it his website...?

[@Kazzerscout]

Yes and no. He's the co-founder with Ryan, but they sold the actual rights to the website/got funding from Whisky media early on. So he wasn't in command of the ship, other people were.

[@BreakoutShot]

Well after finding this out f giant bomb

[@G0rgar]

I highly doubt this came from anyone at Giant Bomb, he talked about running into Bakalar and Dan at the Game Awards and being friendly. Don't forget GB is owned by a parent company. Oh and GB isn't even owned by the same company anymore.

[@chillnspace777]

Ya it's the parent company that giantbomb was sold to.

[@rogerbabin8175]

Its unfortunate to learn that he forced himself to work at this company that was a bad fit for him for soo many years before he finally got out. Giant Bomb has been great without him and I'd like to think this would make him happy. He seems to be happier now too. So in the end everyone wins.

[@G0rgar]

Honestly the year that we had Jeff and not the Nextlander dudes was not great. I was bummed when they left, and I was bummed when Jeff did but now that everything has had time to settle it's been a good thing. Now I get three times the content and it's all good.

[@p4ultimax133]

@@G0rgar And now Jess and Jason were laid off :/

[@BareBandSubscription]

@@p4ultimax133 And Matt

[@ggmann13]

How do you manage to get fired from a company you founded

[@tylersmith8879]

Ask Steve Jobs

[@heyy-yaa]

because jeff doesn't own giant bomb, a giant corporation does.

[@F7HFL]

Because you no longer have ownership of it

[@NathanLyng]

Capitalism

[@JakeChinatown]

@@NathanLyng ding ding ding

[@jamessayer913]

Love Nextlander, love Jeff. GiantBomb sucks now. I find it wierd that they kept the name after all the changes, as it only really means anything to people who no longer care about the site anymore.

[@Eureca]

Meh all 3 still make good content. None are perfect.

[@travismcnasty51]

​@@Eureca Cope

[@michaelkitchin9665]

Games coverage has been weird for years but it's sad to see the bigger outlets taking hits like this. So many people depart and then either go down the patreon, youtube/twitch route and it kinda scatters them to the wind. I'd prefer the GB crew under one roof. As it is, I've got to pick out just what Nextlander/Jeff stuff is worth looking at. And it's always lesser compared to CBS-era Giant Bomb.

[@Noname15514]

Weird is not the word, it's woke. Ever since more and more woke activists took over the gaming coverage space it has never been the same. The only sane guys that I can think of from that classic era of gaming coverage is Chris Gore from G4 and Stuttering Criag from Screwattack.

[@travismcnasty51]

@@Noname15514 hit the nail on the head. For close to a decade, the "woke takeover" movement was basically a swarm of locusts destroying everything in their path leading to a famine of entertaining content. It took years, but after the release of Hogwarts Legacy and seeing how much money can be made IGNORING these screeching wokies I think the future seems bright.

[@emiloguechoons9030]

@@Noname15514 Wtf does "woke" have to do with this, don't bring your crappy politics into everything

[@Noname15514]

@@emiloguechoons9030 Obvious troll is obvious.

[@BareBandSubscription]

@@Noname15514 Stop whining about “woke” stuff. Also Chris Gore is kinda lame, tbh. Anyone who whines about Disney Star Wars at every given opportunity is just obnoxious to me.

[@adny02]

Didn't he create and own Giant Bomb? Along with Brad, Ryan Davis (RIP) and another dude?

[@WEK-kh8gd]

I wonder if anyone still watches giant bomb? I know I never will again.

[@Reason4Termination]

Pretty simple. Nothing complicated. He is obviously expensive, and the corporate big wigs want to cut down on cost. Corpos are the worst.

[@adamd2452]

It’s weird that Jeff says he could no longer do what he wanted to do at a video game publication anymore at GB when he’s not doing anything different now that he’s on his own. Have to assume this thing, like most things in life, was all about money.

[@TheGingerExpress243]

Giantbomb sucks now. He was the heart and soul

[@thirdcoast6513]

Nah

[@rowenpugner3872]

@@thirdcoast6513 Nah? Nah.

[@LostOne890]

Maybe he can go back to Gamespot? LOL How does this even happen with this guy? In his own company no less.

[@gvulture1277]

Games media is completely changed but at the same time these pioneers of it are also really bad at it now, you can blame it on age and responsibilities not wanting to kill yourself for a job but really I think Jeff and all the other GB members should retire this thing and leave it on a high, right now Jeff is just sitting in his bedroom streaming games and talking about gaming news by himself. The other boyz are doing the exact same thing and this zoom looking ass presentation is so ugly and uninteresting I am baffled that anyone actually clicks on these streams for more than 5 seconds. It is BORING. We had it so good, we were spoiled silly when these guys wanted to make video games media a career and now it's just like any other twitch stream you can see. Everyones too sweet and mature in the comments but my take is if you built a brand that has amazing entertainment value I'm talking sets, studios, cameras, microphones, directors, special guests, new ideas, constant attention to your audience and leaving that behind and becoming less than that I would personally make two decisions either retire and go in the shadows or start the machine back up and go full power and recreate that magic because trying to do 50/50 of this is SAD to watch.

[@Noname15514]

The change is going w0ke and that's what destroyed everything. And Gerstmann and the rest of the old crew should be ashamed for not having the courage to speak out against it like Mark Kern.

[@CheeseMonkey18]

RIP Giant Bomb 2008-2013. In all honesty it could never recover from Ryan’s sudden death, and then all the political firestorms of 2014-2017 etc just tarnished so many formerly fun brands. I miss those days, and the stuff they did at GameSpot prior.

[@boochtron]

what political firestorms are you even talking about?

[@BareBandSubscription]

The time between Dan Ryckert joining and the group splitting into two offices across the country for no reason was a good era that proved the brand could survive a loss as big as Ryan’s. It was when they decided to split the group down the middle and throw away so much chemistry that things started getting less appealing, and then people started leaving left and right, the pandemic happened, etc. It was a seriously depressing downward trajectory to see, but it didn’t start as early as Ryan’s death imo

[@Noname15514]

@@boochtron Why do you trolls ask that question then get @$$hurt when you got owned in the argument? You created like 16 alternate accounts to try to ratio anyone in defense of woke propaganda all while Gerstmann is still fired from GaintBomb. The fact that you still repeating the tactic shows how insane you woke bots are.

[@boochtron]

@@BareBandSubscription I didn't even know Ryan Davis. I might go back and listen to that content, but I came in with Ryckert and Walker and Klepek. I think Vinny had to move with his family so some others like Alex decided to join him. So there was no choice, it's before the "remote work" thing was accepted. It's like IGN you had to go into the SF office, but one good thing about pandemic, now they live where ever and just do remote thing.

[@MisterFrodo17]

​@BareBandSubscription If I remember the time-line correctly, Vinny moved to New York in May/June 2014 (joining Alex), and Dan joined in July 2014, so there wasn't really a time where Dan was there and they didn't have split offices. Unless you're referring to the time period from 2014-2016 before Dan moved to New York, which is fair, but they'd already been doing the split offices for over 2 years when that happened. And they didn't split offices "for no reason"; Alex was already in NY, Vinny moved to be close to his family, and Dan later moved to be close to his wife's family. Real life circumstances dictated the office split, and honestly I thought Giant Bomb East was consistently entertaining until around COVID's start.

[@Jojken]

I listened fondly for many years, 5+ years or so. At some point the woke commentary became unbearable and I had to quit listening. Keep politics out of gaming (was my thought)! Nowadays it is almost everywhere in gaming (from what I can see) so I guess it´s no point in gaming anymore (except retro!). As hardware is getting better and better it seems as software is only getting worse and worse.. It goes for TV series and movies too. What´s the point of buying a new console and a brand new HDMI 2.1 OLED TV anymore? This world is lost.. I want to be wrong..

[@JakeChinatown]

you're a cancer on every group you latch yourself to

[@bsideerica2642]

lmao "woke commentary"

[@Kaine667]

wOkE cOmMeNtArY.

[@Lazirus951]

The only overtly political gaming I can think of is Waypoint (Vice Gaming). You have hundreds of thousands of options other than that on KZbin and Twitch. If "almost everything" still somehow feels political to you, then you're wrapped up in your own head.

[@JakeChinatown]

@@Lazirus951 dude, the right-wing gamergaters are still around I wouldn’t say waypoint is the only political gaming website, they’re just the only marxists lol

[@Dr.SamLoomis]

He let Giant Bomb become everything he hated...he sold out

[@MarkSkids]

Nah

[@bikespj22]

They sold out when they literally sold the company. I don't get mad at these things anymore though because shit is ROUGH out there. Get your bag as long as you aren't promoting harmful products or people.

[@DJstuff-q5g]

People have to eat my dude. The only ones who complain about sell outs are the ones with nothing to sell.

[@lemonlateralus]

Jeff Bakalar took over and it got too woke

[@Hardworlder]

You guys really telling on yourselves. If Giant Bomb is too "woke" for you, you have serious issues. And probably suck.

[@InternetSlumlord]

Get a thicker skin, righty.

[@claytrongo]

You’re embarrassing yourself

[@Jarake]

Define "woke".

[@Jarake]

@@vpofrentemspoons2278 clearly youre the bot, yet my question still stands. Clowns can never give a legitimate responses always some nonsense.