Jess and Jason have been laid off (Updated)

Update: Justin, Voidburger and Jason have been let go, and a number of Gamespot people. I have taken the following from Chroneus on discord, if you want to follow and show support.

Jess on Twitch - https://twitch.tv/voidburger
Jess on Patreon - https://patreon.com/Voidburger

Jason on Twitch - https://twitch.tv/unastrike
Jason on Twitter - https://twitter.com/unastrike

Justin (Sweet Art Boy) on Twitter - https://twitter.com/megaberrycrunch

GameSpot:
https://twitter.com/immatelfring/status/1616149474539094018
https://twitter.com/stueyreviewy/status/1616154822977413120
https://twitter.com/rustypolished/status/1616147848273489920

My original post:

Well... this sucks. Two video producers, but more than that Jess was on so much content and responsible for a lot of new things. I don't have the words to express how thankful I am for their efforts here and how much joy they've brought me through GB. A lot of other people are saying this, but it's a very bad move from Fandom and a loss for us all.

Just totally bummed out. Best wishes to Jess and Jason. And man I hope they land on their feet soon and got severance. Being without health insurance must be scary shit.

Hope they are OK. Much love.

Well that fucking sucks <>

Fuck. Here I was just tootling about my day and this hit me like I slipped on a patch of ice I didn't see. All the love to Jess and Jason. Real ones through-and-through, those two.

This news is gutting. Jason was always the site’s secret weapon, and Jess was their best hire in eons. They deserved better than this.

As for the site: not only are they down 2 editors, but one of the 3 consistent content producers is down now too. Bad news all around.

They're two of my favorite staffers. Been following Jason since GI and have been a fan since he first appeared. And Jess immediately made a great impression and became a huge part of GB.

This is rough for all involved, man. Wishing them the best and hope the remaining team can hold it together. The most recent era of GB has been one of my favorites, and sadly the team has to pick up the pieces again.

This fucking sucks. Why pay for premium if the best people get laid off?

@tomydingo: This right here ^

Fuck CEOs. Fuck stupid corporate bullshit. Fucking eat the rich

That's really too bad. Hopefully they land on their feet.

I have been a little worried about Giant Bomb's financial footing for a while. Their views are low on Youtube, and while that's definitely not indicative of the overall viewership for a site as diversified in terms of viewing options as Giant Bomb is, it's still a bit worrying, especially with the changes to premium.

Really hope that both Jason and Jess are able to find something satisfying that pays the bills in the near future, and that these are the last of the layoffs.

What the actual fuck. I'm sure letting go of two video producers won't make ANY problems down the road. This sucks shit. Hopefully Jess and Jason land on there feet much love.

I gave Fandom the benefit of the doubt. That stops here.

I just do not understand how you can so deeply misunderstand the cornerstone position that Jason held here. Not to mention that this leaves Jan to do pretty much all the production work. Homie better demand a raise, pronto.

I better not say anything else.

That's it for my premium sub, at this point I hope the rest of the Dundee's bail and start their own thing with a Patreon or something away from the Fandom suits.

The Nextlander guys definitely hit the right time to get out it seems. Jeff too, since he wanted to quit anyway, just before being actually laid off.

Real shame, and no speculation blabla, but things are not going well. That is a fact.

Jess is the greatest thing that’s happened to GB in a long time. Jesus Christ fuck this.

Terrible news

that sucks so much, both Jess and Jason were great and I'll miss seeing them on gb. I hope they both quickly land on their feet, but I'll say that this ambush-style firing with no goodbye, as they were about to do a live stream, is totally shitty. Just like when Jeff was fired, it seems really pointlessly spiteful.

oh and during Extra Life, Jess managed to get more donations than both the entire rest of the gb team, and Nextlander. so looking at it purely as a business decision, laying off one of the most popular folks who can bring in loads of money is a pretty dumb move. I don't blame the rest of the staff for this, but Fandom has instantly shown they are a much worse owner than both CBSi and Red Ventures. I cancelled my premium, which I kept mostly to support the site, since I didn't really use the perks it gave me. Again, no hard feelings towards the rest of the gb folks who are still on, I hope things will work out for you. but I don't expect them to.

Oof, wishing the best for the staff,

Giant Bomb died 3 years ago to me but officially will be gone in less than a year. Download every video/podcast you can. Much like Revision 3/TechTV/1UP. It will be erased from history soon enough. How these things go. I downloaded 500GB of content within the past 2 months preparing.

That's it. I canceled my subscription. Had one from day one. I doubt my subscription fees where going to the staff anyway.

Fuck with my duder Jason? See that shit later.

Remember all the reassurance about Fandom being a cool new employer that was excited to work with and understand the team?

At this point just let the site drift off into the horizon and have GB become a loose affiliation of streamers that collab sometimes. For real, if you're going to dump so much of your editorial staff like that what other option is there?

The only logic I can follow here is that Fandom have a pool of video editors already to cover some of the work, surely?

If not, this is fucking dumb, and a real shame.

I really liked the new crew and was hopeful for GB's future but I guess was wrong. Cancelled my sub.

Damn. I loved Jason's taste in games and how they were so different from the rest of the crew.

wow. Fandom fuckin sucks shit

Idk what to say anymore. GB starts to hit a stride and is making some fun goofy content and this happens. I want to support the rest of the crew but it's getting harder every year with things like this.

What the fuck? I thought Jess was safe at least, since she's been doing a shitload of work for the site. This makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

This is insane. Just shut it down already.

Oh what the actual fuck. This totally sucks.

This marks the day that giantbomb finally died for me. Good while it lasted, thanks for the memories all of those involved. Time for something better.

This is indefensible.

I know some of you guys had these feelings way earlier, like when the nextlander guys left or when Jeff left, but for me as well now this does feel like the beginning of the end.

I hope some of these guys keep some sort of podcast going after this. There is some real good chemistry at times between Jan/Jess, Dan/Grubb/Jess, etc.

Man this fucking suuuucks.

An absolute shame. I had already cancelled my premium renewal since it doesn't offer anything I care about anymore (not interested in the discord), but really sad to hear in general. Absolute best wishes to Jason and Jess, and to the rest of the crew as they recover from this.

fuck that forever, that's a huge blow to the site.

they're both immensely talented so i'm sure they'll be ok long term- but it's a colossal mistake to let them go.

@unastrike and @voidburger - you're both central to my enjoyment of this place and put a ton of good back in the world. i'll keep an eye out for your next thing, no doubt.

Voicemail Dump Truck sure will be raucous today!

I love the people who work or have worked for this site, but the underlying turmoil in this company is legitimately depressing to bear witness to, even as background noise to otherwise great content. Honestly, it has been for at least three years now.

I implore those who work here to leave for greener pastures, if at all possible. You are capable, beloved, and deserving. People will follow you.

This is a shame and bad for the site imho :(

@tomydingo: It has been cancelled for today.

Yea, I'm basically done after this sadly. Premium hasn't been worth it in ages. Losing 2 people with fairly unique tastes/thoughts in game, less content surely being made and just a less diverse team than before now. Not feeling compelled to watch/listen to much more than Game Mess Mornings (for the news and cus Grubb is great).

The site always bounced back after staffers left but this time im not sure how they can continue. This will completely destroy the team morale. How can they even make more content now knowing what just happened? Shit

I just want to say a big thank you to Jess and Jason.

Jess, thank you for being there and having a great time. It's been fun listening to you on Ryckert 06 and the Giant Bombathon. It's also been great seeing you go through Silent Hill with Jan and watching the games that you brought to UPF that i would of never seen otherwise.

Jason, thank you for reviving my love of fighting games. Not only throigh the ranking of fighters but the ranking of tekken endings too. You were there for Mario Party Party, Metal Gear Scanlon, Gotta God Hand, Years of UPF's, Breaking Brad and more. In the background and foreground, you have been there throughout the years.

You both will be missed. Thank you very much for the laughs and the smiles.

I feel really bad for giantbomb, it has again and again been fucked into the dirt by big corporations. I really don't want to give fandom or red ventures or any of them any of my money anymore

This sucks ass.

The cornerstones of this website are its personalities. Without them, it's nothing but an expensive video archive. And honestly, I've been anxiously waiting for the next shoe to drop. The site needs content to survive and it seems like everyone has been pulled in so many different directions lately that they can't concentrate on doing just that. And if the talent isn't allowed to produce content for the site, the site will flounder and die.

My advice, get rid of your social media strategy and do what Dan said when he was brought back. Make some damn videos about video games.

I literally logged onto the site today hoping to find a new episode of Blight Club. Instead, I find this terrible news and realize that even if they do further episodes, a crucial component is now missing.

I don’t post much, but I have been a premium subscriber since 2013. Ten years. There was a time that I never imagined I would unsubscribe but then GB east closed and the new direction and crew. When Jeff was fired, we didn’t know the details beyond rampant speculation. I really liked the new crew and decided to subscribe again. Now, though we don’t know exact details, it is very clear that Jeff was done super dirty.

Now, Jason and Jess have been fired and it proves that no matter what happens, corporate greed will always trump quality content. So, I am canceling my subscription and giving my money to Jeff, which what I should have done to begin with. Unfortunately, Jason and Jess do not have the draw of Jeff and the Nextlander guys, so I doubt they can find the same success on Patreon: I hope they can find a place that truly appreciates their talents.