Do you worry about the future of the site?

At this point they probably could just migrate to Gamespot if GB was taken down.

I don't worry about the site going forward so much as I do my interest in the site and it's overall tone lately. More and more I'm finding myself a little put off by what I consider an overly negative attitude, "ugh" has kinda become the most common phrase uttered in quick looks lately. I am more than willing to accept that due to personal stress in my life that I am possibly being more sensitive to the negative side of things, but it's hard to not notice the change in tone in the last year or so (for understandable reasons of course). I will always come to the site for various quick looks and whatnot but at the moment I can no longer justify paying a premium for what I'm getting out of the site.

I certainly want the best for Giantbomb, but this last 12 months has really had to take a huge toll of Jeff mostly. Started with Patrick packing up to Chicago, Ryan's passing, Then Vinny moves to New York, etc. It just seems like this exodus in one form or another won't stop. I keep waiting for Drew to announce he is leaving or Brad. This has been my favorite site since day 1, but obviously it's not the same today as it was a year ago, much less at the beginning. Everyone has a limit and there will be a day that Giantbomb closes it's doors and everyone goes their own way. It might be tomorrow, it might be 20 years from now. Who knows? Only they do so all I can do is continue to support them with my financial membership and keep coming back every day.

I don't think the end is near. I don't like the overly employee-friendly approach that the site has taken regarding relocation and I'm surprised CBS has let them get away with it. It will almost certainly hurt their margins, but it seems apparent that they are in the black presently and poised to continue on this more scattered path for some space of time.

No...as much as I love GB, if it goes away I'll eventually find other videogame content I enjoy watching.

@fibabanchi: I want Flight Club back :(

I think they just showed content production of Patrick pre and post relocation. I don't think the relocation hurt the site content wise at all, sure he isn't in the majority of group stuff any more but I feel (and this is a stab in the dark) that he produces more stuff than Jeff or Brad and more than he did pre-relocation. So that would certainly validate the move.
What I don't understand is that you say it will hurt their margins, it lowers CBS's overhead: simply put people now use their own toilet paper and have zero traveling costs for their daily commute. So all in all I think it benefits CBS.

@nictel: Forget toilet paper, we're talking about needing multiple sets of computer/recording hardware, multiple copies of games, possibly multiple software licenses for each location the company expands to. That's not even mentioning that additional staff are required to process and edit the increasing amount of content. 5 people in one room creates one piece of content that needs editing, 5 people in 3 rooms creates 3. Furthermore, if GiantBomb San Francisco intends to continue functioning as the core of "group-based content" that GB was founded on, it now needs additional employees to create that content that it wouldn't have to if it had required Patrick/Vinny/Alex stayed or had let them go on to new endeavors, as the sa ying goes.

Now, I don't say this as someone who understands what features on the site get the most traffic. I would guess it's the SF stuff and not Patrick/Alex's stuff. If so, prioritizing the group content should be their business priority. If solo and group content are equally well-visited, then it may well be the case that their current strategy of increasing the amount of content while sacrificing the resources available for the SF-based content is a sound one.

This op is kind of silly. Youtubers/twitch streamers is the last reason I would worry about Giantbomb given that that's pretty much what they do (they even stream to twitch). Traditional boring games coverage sites who aren't adapting to the times are in trouble from streamers, Giantbomb is one of the few sites that are "with the times". I can't think of any streamers I like more than the Giantbomb crew. I worry about the sites future a little bit for other reasons (breaking up the crew, Vinny with only Alex to play off of who I don't think is that great on camera, new hires could be hit or miss, Brad/Jeff seemingly growing a bit more jaded with video games, CBSi being cheap, etc) but definitely not because of youtube. Giantbomb will probably be fine though.

I only worry in the sense that this team are funny, present their content in an honest, no bullshit way, not through the filter of a polished, professional hosting voice used by the majority of games content producers out there. And with a consistent humor which is irreverent but still respectful of the medium. There is nowhere else with that kind of voice and I think it's genuinely valuable. At least to me.

I will miss it when it goes. Hopefully at that time someone else will take over this kind of role. I'm yet to hear an amateur or semi-pro YouTuber/Twitcher with the chops that come from producing this kind of content for so long, though obviously there are some eg. the biscuit guy, who are popular enough that some clearly think otherwise. In the meantime I'd rather they stuck around and grew for a while, see what comes of it. I like to think the reason it's taking so long is partly due to Jeff knowing exactly the kind of personality the site needs and such a person being a rare find.

@fibabanchi said:

I think there's some sense in putting a fair bit of that content behind the paywall. Stuff like Jeff talking into a camera about the state of the games industry or Patrick exploring his love for The Blair Witch Project is going to mostly only appeal to the people who are deeper into the site and who the staff are as people, whereas it makes sense to keep stuff like the reviews and news outside of the paywall because those are expected to be free parts of a video game site and they're what the broader gaming audience are usually looking for when they come to a game website.

Of course you need something out there to hook people and give them a little taste of what they could get if they signed up for the subscriber service, but I think thought has gone into that as well. The podcast in particular seems to be a great draw and I think shows off the personalities of the staff in a really strong way. There are a lot of people on the site now who say that they originally found the site through the Bombcast or subscribers who say that they started out listening to the podcast. Additionally, I do think there's a lot of "different" content outside of the paywall. Free content on the site ranges from your run-of-the-mill Quick Looks of AAA games to Patrick's Worth Reading which showcases more obscure and in-depth reflection on video games and the way they're covered.

You also have to remember that as much as we can armchair manage the site, the staff are the ones with the hard numbers in front of them about what content pulls in how many people and how many people pay for a subscription when. That doesn't mean that they're definitely making the right choices regarding everything, but those guys are in a better position to make smart choices about what content to feature where.

I was actually way more worried when they were bought out by CBSi to tell you the truth. I think Jeff definitely know what he is doing and the future direction of the site!

Nah. I have nothing but high hopes for GB's future, and they've only grown since the news of GBNY and the new hire. Worrying about a website (as much as I love that website) is pretty low on my list of Life Priorities.