Justin and Griffin McElroy leaving games... journalism? media coverage? Whatever it is they used to do.

Farewell Justin and Griffin. We will miss your brief pop-in shenanigans on Giant Bomb features and will be left wondering what has become of Sherlock Holmes.

Trolls 2 cameo confirmed.

Feel like this could use more context

They crossing over to the dev-side or?

For context: https://www.polygon.com/forums/meta/2018/4/24/17275680/its-a-departure

The gist is they have been over worked and seek a more healthy work/life balance. They intend to more tightly focus their professional energies on their podcast and podcast related endeavors. They will continue to contribute to Polygon in a reduced capacity through Monster Factory, Awful Squad and The Besties.

Honestly I don't know how they've been surviving the past couple of years, especially once all their children started being born. Here's hoping the change leads to healthier, happier lives for themselves and their families.

Yeah I'm sorta bummed, but honestly the most important thing to me was always the podcasts (which they're continuing), and Griffin says in his resignation letter above that he'd been trying to quit for 2 whole years because of the work load. I hope this is a good change for them.

I haven't particularly liked much of what they've created, but did appreciate their last contribution to giant bomb a while back. It seems like they'll be alright financial with all that they're doing.

I feel this was pretty inevitable since I've long been unable to conceive of how they find the time to do all the things they do AND maintain growing families.

I have no idea who they are or what they have done, I just see their names pop up now and again. But good Luck!

maaaan- i gotta say i'm not super surprised. good on em for making a positive change.

although i will very much miss hearing from them. their interactions on the gb couch at e3 throughout the years are among the absolute best. WHO WILL REVIEW THE MOUTHFEEL OF THE SOLAIRE AMIIBO? AND WHO WILL PROVIDE OUR SHERLOCK HOLMES UPDATE?

we'll always have the timebelt. along with that other beautiful piece he wrote.

Definitely understand this move, given how they have kids and a veritable podcast empire now. They somehow were allowed on the red carpet of a Broadway premiere (which might be the funniest slow-motion panic attack I’ve ever listened to) and even if I’ve kinda fallen off The Adventure Zone, they put out an actual physical graphic novel of that first arc. I guess what I’m saying is that I think they’re doing okay without needing to write about games.

And, If I’m going to be totally honest, I’ve never been much for Griffin and Justin’s actual “Games Journalist” takes on video games. They might be Polygon’s shining stars, but 90% of that is stupid videos and barely any of it is written content. It sounds like they’re still going to create more of the disruptive, avant-garde art masterpiece that is Monster Factory, so I’m happy there too.

I also am sort of surprised they kept with their day jobs as the comedy gigs have taken off.

They seemed to send Travis out to the coast to try to help get them some gigs so they could make a living in the media space and it worked. They already helped their dad leave his day job. Makes a lot of sense for them to move on too.

I don't think it'll be hard to get them to pop in for shenanigans, just not very often. Media figures need exposure to keep their Q up.

I can't believe the Besties is surviving. Griffin and the others actively dump on how bad that podcast is. They killed it for two years. They seem to be in physical pain when Russ Frushtick hauls out one of his voices like Brooklyn Giraffe. It's kind of bizarre that is going to stay on while their other gaming things end.

We all had realize that when they became fast friends with Brenda Vacarro and Al Roker that this day was near.

I love the McElroys. The McElroys and Giant Bomb are the centers of my entertainment universe. They have been talking a lot recently about how the success of their The Adventure Zone podcast has allowed their father, Clint, to retire from his radio job in West Virginia that required him getting up at 3AM. Their My Brother, My Brother, and Me podcast is still top notch. This whole family works their butt off and travels all over the country for live shows. They have paid their dues tenfold over and I’m glad to see Justin and Griffin finally have the freedom to make this change.

Kinda sounds like they will continue doing all the best things they did for Polygon anyway, just not beholden to them as their actual job.

I don't really follow many people in the game-o-sphere outside of Giant Bomb but I enjoyed their presence during E3 shenanigans.

I like them, but everyone else at Polygon is pretty annoying to me. This thread reminded me that I haven't listened to MBMBAM in forever.

To be honest, I'm barely aware of what they think about games other than Justin loves Sherlock Holmes and Griffin loves character creators and cars. I always wondered, honestly, how much work they actually did for Polygon, though I always assumed they had a lot of behind the scenes/skunkworks roles to fulfill similar to Jeff and Vinny.

Yeah, I never really got the impression (or much of any) that they were invested in the journalism side or even the site itself. Most of their videos were goofy projects that could've been done on the side in the first place. I don't follow Polygon much at all outside of their stuff, I think Griffin did a few guide articles for certain games? Other than I'm about as clueless as most about what exactly they did over there.

As a McElroy fan though I'm more than happy about the move since their podcast game has definitely blew up these past few years, it's getting kinda crazy.

Makes sense. MBMBAM and Adventure Zone have taken off and have become surprisingly popular. Plus with other podcasts they are starting up, it makes sense to double down on the McElroy brand instead of trying to split time between their most popular thing and Polygon.

@travisrex: most recently Justin and Griffin have been bit players with Polygon, doing mostly video projects (Monster Factory) and the very occasional game review. Before being founding members of Polygon, they were with Joysitq, which had their own really great podcast (with Justin, Ludwig Kietzman, and Chris Grant, and occasionally Griffin). Justin has appeared on the E3 Afterhours Show several times and is best known for his Sherlock Holmes game check-ins. Beyond that Justin listens to the bombast and references it Infrequently in their various podcasts (Vinny also frequently mentions listening to their shows). With their exit from Polygon it is unlikely they will be at E3 or appear on the podcast again.

I feel like this has been a long time coming considering how much their family brand has grown. Seems like the straw that broke the camels back is Griffin being DM for another entire season of TAZ. He pours a full time job's worth of effort into that alone.

To be honest, I hope the reduced workload lets them relax and refocus some. I've noticed in the past year or so they've gotten less experimental in their things. They've become extremely concerned making their stuff perfect from the get go that they've lost a bit of their improvisational edge.

You're telling me the besties are still around? Wow. I haven't listened since the end of 2012 and thought it died then. Now I'm curious what the hell it is...

@enemylandlord: Those three shows are the only things I ever see them on these days anyway, so doesn't seem like that much is changing haha. Patrick, Brian Simone and Russ have been carrying the site for some time now so if it means more regular content with them, than fine by me. The McElroys haven't been hitting it like they used to for a while so a break to recharge the creativity would honestly do them good.

@nightriff: It's now a once a month thing but the Besties is still really good :D