Well this was unexpected. During a PAX panel last night, the Giant Bomb crew showed up to announce that Giant Bomb is no longer owned by Fandom and is, instead, now owned by five of their employees.
This, um, came as quite a shock to me. I mean, I wrote what was effectively a eulogy for the site just a week and a half ago and I was starting to make my peace with the fact that this thing I'd loved was gone and now it's back? And under what is seemingly the best possible ownership? What a wild time.
Giant Bomb has gone through many owners over the years, from their start under Whiskey Media, to their time under the CBS umbrella, to their stint with Red Ventures, and finally with the management of Fandom, so to see them go independent and seemingly be forced to go back to their scrappy roots once again is, well, really cool.
I say "back", but I do want to highlight that the people who now own Giant Bomb are not the same people who founded it. The former staff of the site are split between God knows how many Patreons and Twitch channels and other fan-supported subscriptions, so the Giant Bomb brand joining their ranks feels fitting, even if I still don't necessarily feel too attached to the people currently at the helm. I like what I know of these people, sure, but I bounced before Jeff Grubb and Mike Minotti became full-time so to see them now own it is... strange. I'm happy for Dan Ryckert and Jan Ochoa and Jeff Bakalar, as they've been holding down the fort for a long time, and I wish them luck, but I can't promise I'll follow this new site for long if, well, if their output is anything like it has been in recent years.
Giant Bomb is a site that's always been about the people there and I frankly just don't feel too attached to the current roster. Still, I'm willing to give it a shot and follow them again, at least for a little while. This site has meant a lot to me in the past and I want to see it continue, in whatever form that takes.
You can read more about all this whole situation in their own words here.
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