Gametrailers shutdown

From the I did not see that coming department, GameTrailers is shutting down after being in operation for 13 years. I'm a bit surprised this happened since they were still putting out tons of video content daily, and the voice of the Co-Founder Brandon Jones always had great reads on all the videos that he did, from the reviews to all the retrospectives that I've enjoyed though the years.

And just have to say, it really his a d!ck move to layoff everyone with no notice; and by the looks of things, one person was on their honeymoon as all of this happens.

I'm bummed to see them go, and I'm sure everyone has at least a memory or two of them. I hope everyone gets back on their feet quickly from this..

And here's a link to part two of the Castlevania retrospective for old times sake, they also had a parting stream on twitch today. Best of luck to everyone there.
http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/v...

I always watched their video reviews for games that I was interested in and found them better than the ones e.g. IGN makes. Mostly, I preferred their videos, because they were not too long and not too short. Just long enough to get a good first impression of a game. Most other video reviews on YouTube are way too long nowadays. Apart from that, I never used gametrailers to be honest. The shutdown of 1UP several years ago hit me harder. But for the people who worked there that is absolutely horrible; letting them go like this doesn't seem to be legit.

Hopefully, they get financial compensation for this. I don't know what it's like in the US, but although there is not right of an employee to receive financial compensation in the event of a termination in Germany, former employees usually get a payment of a negotiated compensation over here. It's even better if there is a work council. Then, employees may have a compensation claim under a social plan.

I'm shocked and not shocked. I used to love their work. They had such a great slate of shows and a steady drip of informative reviews. It was my daily go_to spot for the longest time.

The site has steadily lost its identity over the last couple of years. It suffered from YouTube-ism, essentially trying to force every GT staffer down your throat as this big host personality and filling the site with far too many round table discussion shows and irreverent comedy bits.

Perhaps I wrote them off even sooner once Epic Battle Cry disappeared...

Maclintok wrote:

I'm shocked and not shocked. I used to love their work. They had such a great slate of shows and a steady drip of informative reviews. It was my daily go_to spot for the longest time.

Likewise. I haven't been there in years, though, which can't have helped them out any.

Also haven't been there in years but I loved the retrospectives they did on games.
Hopefully everyone lands on their feet and finds better employment opportunities. sh*tty whenever any company shuts down and people lose jobs.

I was visiting the site (or their Youtube channel) every day. There is going to be a big hole in my routine. They had gathered some great personalities who played a ton of games and were excited to share their love for them. Huber is a prime example:

Their Dungeon and Dragons campaign was a blast as well. Damnit .

They did redesign the site recently incorporating an anti-ad blocker component that stopped me viewing the content entirely, even though I've never run an ad blocker. It mean I had to go through Youtube to see anything but I am on an old Mac OS and I doubt that was the cause of their demise. The writing was probably already on the wall.

I always enjoyed the quality of their video reviews. This is disappointing to hear. In all honesty though they could have just been a youtube channel instead of having a dedicated site which always was clunky to navigate.

This was a big part of my college and I still checked them out every week or two to get caught up on their reviews and to watch the boseman show. I'm glad Elyse got our of there and moved to Funhaus before this happened, but it really sucks for everyone else.

Their reaction to the FF7 Remake announcement was one of the best things to come out of there in recent years.

They tried to go the Giant Bomb/YouTube way and that never connected with me. I kind of was annoyed with, well, all of their personalities.

They were my go to gaming video source, oh, a decade ago. But then there were so many other great places to go and, well, yeah, I never went back.

Good luck to all those who need jobs.

I've been reliant on their reviews for all my game purchasing decisions. Honestly surprised to see them go.

I stopped checking in there a long time ago due to being lazy and finding it hard to get to the tiny sliver of content I wanted to see.

That is truly a bummer. I used to love going to that site and checking up on all the new info. They were also the only site I won a contest on (got free Saints Row themed ASTRO A40s and Saints Row 3) and they all seemed like great people. Best wishes to all those looking for new jobs. Hope they land on their feet.

Ouch. I visit the site on an almost daily basis. Sorry to see it go. Sucks that they didn't find out about the layoffs till the last minute. I imagine the owners were probably trying to sell up until the very end.

Damn. I've been relying on their review for 13 years. Their retrospectives are some of the best pieces of media I've ever seen. Emmy and Golden Globe level of quality.

I was quite surprised to see this announcement on my Twitter feed this morning. I don't go to their site as often as I used to, but I like a lot of their content.

I especially like the videos narrated by Brandon, like the reviews, Pop Fiction, and the retrospectives. They did a great job with those, and he's just got a great narrator voice for that kind of thing.

I hope everyone can find work elsewhere soon.

Oh wait, Bosman was a gametrailers thing? By all accounts I should never have bothered with his silly show, but he strikes just the right balance of cynical, news, and level opinion for me, especially with regard to Nintendo. I guess I'll miss that, which I viewed from youtube with no clue of its origin.

Wow, just checked out their Firewatch review yesterday. Sad to see them go.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

I stopped checking in there a long time ago due to being lazy and finding it hard to get to the tiny sliver of content I wanted to see.

This. That site became more and more of a hassle to navigate I felt. The intrusive ads (as I recall) kept me away too.

When Screwattack left I just went directly to screwattack's site. Aside from that, I pretty much just watched certain parts of their best of awards and retrospectives....but that's been several years as well now.

It is getting hard to find good dedicated sites.

Wow this makes me sad that was the first video game site that I ever went to. My first forum experiences were on that site.

Daniel Bloodworth, the tall skinny long-haired mustachioed man with glasses, is probably my favorite of the bunch. He's understated but thoroughly professional. Always enjoyed hearing his thoughts on specific games. He keeps a notebook for thoughts and stuff, for crying out loud.

Hope everyone will land on something soon, but especially Bloodworth.

One of my favourite gaming sites over the years. Their reviews were first class, Brandon Jones was to video game narrative what David Attenborough was to Wildlife narrative. Agree with the others about the retrospectives, absolutely first class. Hope all the staff land back in the industry in some shape or form.

Bloodworth was a top professional, really grounded & detailed thoughts on games, would love to see more of him.

All day today I've been thinking, 'I'll just go to... oh. No I won't.'

Brandon's voice was/is amazing.

Definite props to Bloodworth and Brandon. I also enjoyed Kyle Bossman. Anyone with a B in their name gets an A++.

Certainly loved their retrospectives (WoW, Diablo, etc.). They did great work.

Higgledy wrote:

All day today I've been thinking, 'I'll just go to... oh. No I won't.'

Brandon's voice was/is amazing.

Hear hear. Where does one go now for game stuff? Giant Bomb, I guess - sigh.

Would be cool for Giant Bomb to absorb some people from GT, though. Theirs is a story of breaking from harsh business realities to make fun video game stuff. They certainly share the passion for the hobby, so if they can, this could be a good fit.

Huber is an acquired taste but I was a big fan in the end just because of his endless enthusiasm.

Gametrailers reviews were probably the best out there, even though I started ignoring them due to my decision to blackout all gameplay footage for games I'm interested in. I also lost a lot of interest in the website when they gave Marcus Beer more of a speaking platform, as I don't really like the man and the persona he portrays. Saying that, I was glad to see they cut ties with him, but I'd already found alternatives since then.

It's sad to see the website go, but I'm hoping a lot of the guys turn up elsewhere, or ideally band together to create something new. I think the website suffered a lot due to being late to the YouTube party, was listening to the Funhaus podcast today, where they said a lot of that was probably due to the fact Viacom (who owned them previously) were in a legal dispute with YouTube.

One last stream. Apparently Lightening is involved somehow.

Huber is also starting a streamed play through of Dying Light on the same channel.

UPDATE: The Gametrailers crew are starting something new: Easy Allies

First podcast. Whoo!

Just saw the easy allies thing. I will be checking it out.