Announcements from 6/8/21 'Cast. O'Dwyer joining P/T. Collabs with Ryckert, Grubb, Gamespot peeps. Will hire more F/T.

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bigsocrates

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#1  Edited By bigsocrates

I'm excited. My bold prediction? They're going to merge the two Jeffs into one ultraJeff called Jeff Gerstalar. Like a Voltron of Jeffs. A Jefftron.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-giant-bomb-is-evolving/1100-6492597/

Pasted from below:

So it's basically what people thought it was going to be. Jeff said that Red Ventures gave them some budget and they're going to spend it making shows in a "seasonal" format where they make a specific number of episodes. Danny O'Dwyer is the first signee.

Jeff said that the "core" team is going to do Quick Look "editorial coverage" of new releases etc... Danny is not going to be the typical contract, where people will pitch individual projects. It sounds like Danny is more joining the core team. He will be on the Bombcast, doing Quick Looks etc.... and working on some "weird shows" as well.

It sounds potentially cool? Funding neat distinct series to put on Giant Bomb.

First temporary signees is Jeff Grubb (Jeff number 3)

Tamoor Hussain and Lucy James from Gamespot are going to be working with Bakalar on an unspecified show after E3.

This summer Dan Ryckert will also be working with Jeff Bakalar on a new show.

There will be more to say in the coming weeks but those four announcements (Grub, Rykert, Gamespot people, and Danny O'Dwyer) seem to be the big ones.

In the future they will be soliciting community feedback and may take pitches from the community.

They are also going to be expanding the core team in the future. More producers, front facing talent etc..

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youeightit

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I'm pumped for this. As somebody that has been struggling to keep my relationship to GB afloat since the departures, this news is the shot in the arm I need.

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NickM

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I hope they pull it off, but I’ve been really bummed out by this year’s output and this last month in particular. Hope it’s good.

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NickM

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“Severely excellent” is quite a statement. I’m definitely tuning in to find out.

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Nodima

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Somebody woke up listening to Mike Greenberg today.

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The_Nubster

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Sick! Hell yeah! With Nextlander and now this I can feel the excitement creeping back in. It's like a fun new chapter.

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chrispy145

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Probably has something to do with Brad leaving Nextlander.

I bet he lands with GB. Big, if true.

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dizzie_lizzie

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mmcg

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Nextlander is acquiring Red Ventures. If I'm wrong I'll eat my hat.

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Ydross

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@mmcg: with all the money they made with their Patreon now they can definitely afford it

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Retroman87

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Nextlander is buying GB.

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deactivated-63d17e8766caf

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They've switched to Geoff.

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stanleynipple

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I'm guessing they're going with a Twitch-like platform that allows non-staff to stream?

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OurSin_360

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I'm guessing they're going with a Twitch-like platform that allows non-staff to stream?

I was thinking about this as well, that would be super interesting and a good way to expand IMO.

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Carboot_Soul

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@bigsocrates: My prediction is JeffCubed™, where they hire another Jeff.

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sombre

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But it's still locked behind premium lol

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bigsocrates

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Based on how much they are complaining about the sun at the start of this podcast, this is the new direction for Giant Bomb:

Loading Video...

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bizarrohash

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I would love to see some of the Gamespot people like Tam and Micheal and Lucy show up on GB stuff regularly. Then bring in guests from other parts of the industry… Kinda like Jeff’s E3 couch shows. That would keep things fresh and allow for more diverse voices on the site.

I’m excited to hear what they say, though!

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christ0phe

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@nickm: Well to be fair, they did say they wouldn't be putting out much content in May / June as they figured things out internally.

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Retris

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JEFF GRUBB! IT'S THE J WORLD ORDER!

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bigsocrates

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#21  Edited By bigsocrates

So it's basically what people thought it was going to be. Jeff said that Red Ventures gave them some budget and they're going to spend it making shows in a "seasonal" format where they make a specific number of episodes. Danny O'Dwyer is the first signee.

Jeff said that the "core" team is going to do Quick Look "editorial coverage" of new releases etc... Danny is not going to be the typical contract, where people will pitch individual projects. It sounds like Danny is more joining the core team. He will be on the Bombcast, doing Quick Looks etc.... and working on some "weird shows" as well.

It sounds potentially cool? Funding neat distinct series to put on Giant Bomb.

First temporary signees is Jeff Grub (Jeff number 3)

Tamoor Hussain and Lucy James from Gamespot are going to be working with Bakalar on an unspecified show after E3.

This summer Dan Rykert will also be working with Jeff Bakalar on a new show.

There will be more to say in the coming weeks but those four announcements (Grub, Rykert, Gamespot people, and Danny O'Dwyer) seem to be the big ones.

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AzureGale

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Seems like they're doing what they've been doing, but expanding it way out. Keeping a rotating cast of people will keep fresh perspectives and ideas coming in and out. Given that they're working with Dan on a thing too, it looks like they're open to working with anyone.

I'm confident with this plan, and I look forward to seeing what Jeff, Tamoor, Lucy, and Dan have in store :)

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triviaman09

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Gotta spend some weeks meditating to prepare myself for the return of Dan discourse on the site

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bigsocrates

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#24  Edited By bigsocrates

Jeff has said that Red Ventures increased the funding and that Red Ventures is much more nimble and responsive to Giant Bomb's pitches than the prior ownership (which he said that he wasn't going to throw under the bus.)

It sounds like there are more changes coming over time. Pretty exciting stuff. He said that depending on response they might create a wrestling website (which they almost did) or whatever else makes sense. Seems like Giant Bomb is going to continue to evolve.

"The current website we have now doesn't necessarily reflect where I think we're going to go." Said that they rebuilt the website for structure and then the content had to fit that structure and it became confining.

They are going to redesign the website at some point in the future.

Rebuilding a Bomb!

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Ben_H

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#25  Edited By Ben_H

2 Systems 2 Goku please.

Danny already mentioning Danswers makes me happy. I hope it comes back.

They all sound genuinely excited on the Bombcast and it's great. It seems like they've been wanting to do this for a long time but weren't able to under previous ownership.

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Retris

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I just want Janswers with Jan and his barber, Jan.

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Ben_H

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Now I want a mahjong show with Jan and his Grandma.

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bigsocrates

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@ben_h: The technical term is "Janma"

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frytup

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@retris said:

I just want Janswers with Jan and his barber, Jan.

I really could have used some self haircut tips about 6 months ago.

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TurtleFish

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@bigsocrates said:

So it's basically what people thought it was going to be. Jeff said that Red Ventures gave them some budget and they're going to spend it making shows in a "seasonal" format where they make a specific number of episodes. Danny O'Dwyer is the first signee.

Jeff said that the "core" team is going to do Quick Look "editorial coverage" of new releases etc... Danny is not going to be the typical contract, where people will pitch individual projects. It sounds like Danny is more joining the core team. He will be on the Bombcast, doing Quick Looks etc.... and working on some "weird shows" as well.

It sounds potentially cool? Funding neat distinct series to put on Giant Bomb.

So, to draw a completely wild analogy, it sounds kinda like the Rooster Teeth model. Gonna be interesting, for sure. (At least I hope it is interesting - like, let it be amazing, or let it be terrible -- but, at the very least, let it be interesting.)

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dizzie_lizzie

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I am so excited for this!

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AndersWarming

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This could be really great :)

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drdust

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This is great news, super excited.

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ALLTheDinos

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@dizzie_lizzie: Big agree. What sells it for me is Danny talking about wanting to be an agent of chaos, and also Jeff expressing the desire to get weird. Weirder internet is better internet.

Only downside is… you think the fantasy booking was bad before?

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BladeOfCreation

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I like this idea.

I hope they pay these temporary contractors fair wages.

I understand why the initial slate of shows would include people that they have existing professional and personal relationships with. It will be deeply disappointing if they don't open up these opportunities to diverse, new, upcoming talent.

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TheRealTurk

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So they're going to have some core shows and then a group of maybe-game-related things from other contributors on the side?

So a . . . Giant ClusterBomb?

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bigsocrates

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@bladeofcreation: As noted in my post above Jeff suggested they might be taking pitches from "the community" in the future, which I took to mean basically anyone. I am pretty sure this is intended to be fairly open.

Obviously they have not announced the pay for the first shows but they did say that Danny O'Dwyer would be paid in "Bombcoin" which is apparently a never launched cryptocurrency. I don't know if that makes it worthless or an extremely valuable collector's item. It's possible they will actually be paying him in US dollars. Though when he covers European sports games he will be paid in Euro.

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SSully

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Only downside is… you think the fantasy booking was bad before?

Yeah, the stream chat was kind of painful in this regards. Lots of references to Abby and NextLander, the later of which is weird considering they left knowing what was coming down the pipeline(and probably weren’t interested).

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BladeOfCreation

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@bigsocrates: To clarify, I'm not even suggesting that we, as users of the site, need to know what the contractor (I'm not sure if this is the right word, but it's essentially what they're talking about) talent gets paid. What I am saying is that there is a long and storied history of companies paying contractors less than fair wages. I don't think that's a thing that Jeff would do. I have no such faith in Red Ventures or any large corporation.

I'm calling my investor now and telling them to go big on Bombcoin.

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effache

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#40  Edited By effache

in principle this sounds very exciting and cool, it lets them work with lots of people who have left the corporate games industry, or people who work mostly independently now -- they could try and pull in the kinds of people in games media who have made guest appearances on the podcast or e3 shows for years. When these ideas were first floating around a month ago I was imagining more contemperary creators like streamers but if they make the process of doing these limited shows attractive & lucrative enough to creators (and I'd imagine they have to), they could get a lot of cool people through the revolving doors.

basically what i'm saying is there's gonna be a michael pachter show

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entoma

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I'm excited, this sounds really cool!

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BisonHero

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FinalDasa

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#43 FinalDasa  Moderator

There was a question about why contracts and not just new hires so I'll paste Jeff's reply to someone in chat about it.

No Caption Provided

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slyspider

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Okay. I fell off Giantbomb some years ago and haven't seemed to connect with content on the site. This seems really cool. Hopefully some of these shows cater to more niche genres that isn't really represented on the site (JRPGs, Sim Racing) but I'm excited for whatever comes. Still a premium member, will be for the foreseeable future!

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singing_pigs

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I'm very excited about this. I get the sense that this isn't just randomly cycling people in and out, it really feels like there's some drive to make really creative stuff here. When all you have is a stable of full-time staff that have to crank out shows, I can imagine that getting stale and tough to always come up with interesting things. When, instead, you're not an FT crew member but you want to pitch a limited run show, I think the pressure is on to come up with something unique. I'm hopeful that this will bring some variety and creative energy to the site, and honestly, to games media in general. I'm growing tired of the "sit in front of a camera and play a game" format. More 13 Deadly Sims or Steal My Sunshine type shenanigans, please.

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spacemanspiff00

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#46  Edited By spacemanspiff00

I think what really hit home for me was Dan laying it all out about his life and relationship with GB. He was there filling in and he said he really had to ponder whether the team had some fight left because he has a busy life and other responsibilities. I have also felt the same way about GB over the last couple years. Its great to know that he not only feels confident, and wants to continue, but that he was willing to admit he had those concerns to the rest of us.

I am looking forward to being apart of wherever this goes. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't, I am in.

Oh, also, DANSWERS! (Though the Janswers idea that Retris suggested above is also great)

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rokuthirteen

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#47  Edited By rokuthirteen

I'm just commenting in the case that someone from staff sees and needs a confidence boost: this feels AWESOME. I love this, and I'm really excited.

When I finish a season of a show on a streaming service, do I cancel it? No. Not as long as I'm looking forward to what's next. In fact, it scratches the itch of completion of something that gets me watching every episode (instead of tuning in and out, like I do with evergreen content) and then looking for the next series. That structure is what had me watch all of Metal Gear Scanlon or This is the Run but has me catch some/miss some for UPF (even though I love it).

I think this is a great, sustainable direction. Keep up the great ideas and work!

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Y2Ken

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This is rad, I'm looking forward to seeing some of it in action!

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OurSin_360

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Sounds good, my favorite content from them was probably that game of the year where they did all the skits. I remember some good scripted stuff from Jeff and Ryan from back at the gamespot days too(time trotters etc).

I guess they won't be doing the live content anymore though? How do people feel about that, as Unprofessional Fridays and stuff were also some of the best former content. I think that it is actually good and they can coexists extremely well with Nextlander.

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sparky_buzzsaw

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That's cool! Looking forward to more friends of Giant Bomb hanging around and classing the place up.