Today, Giant Bomb announced that the website’s co-founder, Jeff Gerstmann, was leaving the popular video game website after nearly 15 years. In a blog post announcing the departure, it was explained that “Giant Bomb and Jeff Gerstmann have agreed to go our separate ways.”
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In a lengthy blog post shared on Giant Bomb’s website, staff explained that they were going to be “transparent” about Gerstmann’s departure, calling it “heavy-hitting news” and a “big moment” for the site and its future.
As for why he was leaving today, neither Giant Bomb nor Gerstmann shared any specific details, only stating that an agreement had been reached between the parties to “go our separate ways.”
The former GameSpot editorial director confirmed the news via his own personal Twitter announcing that today, June 6, was his last day with the company. He also hinted at more details and info coming tomorrow via a stream on his own Twitch channel.
In the blog post announcing the news, Giant Bomb also talked about the future of the site following his exit, stating that this departure won’t lead to a “Giant Bomb 2.o” and that it still planned to be a “weird and welcoming corner of the internet.”
Gerstmann’s sudden exit today continues a trend of older staff leaving the popular video game site.
Last year in May, three of the legacy members of the site, Vinny Caravella, Alex Navarro, and Brad Shoemaker left. They went off and started their own thing called Nextlander.
These departures all came after the news in September 2020 that the former parent company of GameSpot and Giant Bomb —ViacomCBS— had sold the sites to digital marketing company Red Ventures. While Caravella tried to squash rumors that it was this new owner that had led to an exodus of employees, rumors among fans and longtime viewers of the site still persist.
Update 6/7/22 11:10 a.m. ET: Giant Bomb has now revealed its core lineup of personalities moving forward after the site’s co-founder, Gerstmann, left yesterday. It was also announced that former Giant Bomb staff member Dan Ryckert will be returning to the site full-time as its new Creative Director.
“I’m back full-time at Giant Gomb as Creative Director,” tweeted Ryckert. “And I can’t wait to start making a whole bunch of fun dumb shit again.”
Here is the complete crew line-up as revealed in the video posted by Giant Bomb earlier today:
Jeff BakalarJeff GrubbTamoor HussainLucy JamesJess O’BrienJason OestreicherMatt Rorie
