Giant Bomb is now 100% independent (www.giantbomb.com)
from alyaza@beehaw.org to gaming@beehaw.org on 11 May 17:41
https://beehaw.org/post/19939165

After over a decade of corporate ownership, Giant Bomb will now be truly independent. We don’t work for a corporation anymore, we work for you (please let us know where to send our PTO requests and expense reports). We’re not serving an algorithm or executives, we’re serving you, the audience. We want to lean into what’s always made Giant Bomb special, and that’s the people you see and hear on our content, and our extremely passionate community.

Here comes the part that you’re probably expecting!

We want your money. We need your money. Give us money. But for real, this is a big risk we’re taking and keeping Giant Bomb alive is going to rely on the support of the community. As an independent entity now, we can say that all support that we receive from you will go directly towards maintaining and growing Giant Bomb and paying the fine folks that you see on our programming week after week.

#gaming

threaded - newest

alyaza@beehaw.org on 11 May 17:43 next collapse

and the press release from Fandom, which previously owned them for some reason:

San Francisco, CA - May 10, 2025 - Fandom, the world’s largest fan platform, is selling Giant Bomb to long-time Giant Bomb staff and gaming content creators Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb. Financials of the deal were not disclosed. Giant Bomb’s programming, which was paused in order to work out the terms of this deal, will resume as quickly as possible. More details will be communicated soon by Giant Bomb’s new owners.

Statement from Fandom

“Fandom has made the strategic decision to transition Giant Bomb back to its independent roots and the brand has been acquired by longtime staff and content creators, Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb, who will now own and operate the site independently. Fans are at the core of everything we do at Fandom and we’re committed to not only serving them but also supporting the creators they love, and the sale of Giant Bomb represents a natural extension of that mission. We’re confident Giant Bomb is in good hands and its legacy will live on with Jeff and Jeff.”

Joint Statement from Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb

“Giant Bomb is now owned by the people who make Giant Bomb, and it would not have been possible without the speedy efforts of Fandom and our mutual agreement on what’s best for fans and creators. The future of Giant Bomb is now in the hands of our supporting community, who have always had our backs no matter what. We’ll have a lot more to say about what this looks like soon, but for now, everyone can trust that all the support we receive goes directly to this team.”

theangriestbird@beehaw.org on 11 May 17:56 next collapse

Fandom was the third company in a chain of companies that bought Giant Bomb. For some reason they were always “bundled” with CNET and GameSpot, so as those sites have been passed around, Giant Bomb was just along for the ride, I guess.

TachyonTele@lemm.ee on 11 May 18:22 collapse

the strategic decision to transition

Just fucking say you sold it. Jesus.

SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org on 11 May 19:01 collapse

They won’t, fandom is a piece of shit.

theangriestbird@beehaw.org on 11 May 17:57 next collapse

I’m stoked about this news! I don’t super care for the current Giant Bomb crew, but the current dudes are all good people, and I’ve loved all past iterations of the site. So it’s really exciting to see GB finally open a new chapter!

Paradachshund@lemmy.today on 11 May 19:11 next collapse

Wasn’t there an article on here just the other day saying it had been sold to someone else? Glad to hear they’re indie either way. We need more of that in all forms of journalism these days.

theangriestbird@beehaw.org on 11 May 19:55 collapse

they were in turmoil over the past week, everyone was expecting that Fandom was gutting the division but they would continue trotting out GB’s corpse.

MudMan@fedia.io on 11 May 19:25 next collapse

Neat. This was the best possible outcome of the whole mess.

Whether it's viable or they will do interesting stuff is anybody's guess. I'll be honest, I haven't been following much GB stuff since the original team left.

There's a history of these things turning basically into semi-successful Youtube channels, and who knows if that's good enough when you also have a website to maintain, but I do wish them the best.

Yeller_king@reddthat.com on 11 May 23:03 next collapse

Great news. Unfortunately, I just don’t like the people who were there after Brad, Vinny, Alex and Jeff left.

greybeard@lemmy.one on 11 May 23:08 collapse

I hope this frees them up to work with previous hosts more. Most of them are still around and working in similar content.