this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023

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Flagship gaming website loses its video team as star of ‘Zero Punctuation’ resigns (www.news.com.au)

submitted 9 months ago by BarterClub to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Nothing looks better on a corporate resume than taking over a successful business and immediately alienating all the talent that made it successful. I don’t know who the jerkwad is that fucked up so badly, but I hope this follows them for years.

Kudos to Nick, Yahtzee and all the rest for sticking with each other in solidarity rather than caving to corporate pressure. I’ll be looking forward to seeing them produce new videos in the future, hopefully under their own LLC.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Its already up and cracking. They got right to it. They took the whole company with them.

Second Wind on youtube.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

"employee owned"

Nice

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Thank you so much for this, awesome.

[+] [email protected] -10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This was a win for whomever bought it. They cut costs and killed an underperforming unit. Assuming it’s part of a larger entity, they’re able to strip this parts or shutter it completely to post a loss they’ll get tax credit for or can use to offset gains elsewhere. Modern US capitalism only cares about short term shareholder value increases and this story, when viewed through that lens, is just another day in the world of investment banks, venture capital, and corporate sharks.

Note I’m not saying it’s a win for people. In the 70s and 80s when the US markets moved shareholder value above customers and employees, life got fucked. It’s just naive to think any of this actually matters beyond dollars on a balance sheet. Gamurs Group can spin the shutdown of The Escapist as a net win or can rebuild the publication at a loss, also as a net win. They don’t fucking care.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What makes you say the Escapist was underperforming?

[–] [email protected] -4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I’m speaking from the perspective of how it will be spun. Why would Gamurs Group take a loss on this?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ah. Well, doesn’t really matter how it’s spun. The Escapist was that company’s golden goose, and they just chased it off. Anyone with any brains in the industry or in private equity will be able to see that, regardless of spin. This isn’t in the interest of short- or long-term gains, it’s just a company-ending error by a fucking stupid exec.

[–] mindbleach 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Like it's a fucking choice.

Mate, the house burned down. You don't get to spin it better on sticktoitiveness. Shit's fucked.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Taking a major loss on The Escapist allows Gamurs Group to take a major win on their balance sheet. I had to check to make sure Australia works the same way (edit: as the US for the whole corporate using losses to mask gains). Reporting the complete loss of The Escapist drops the tax burden, increasing total gains. Given that Gamurs was already forcing cuts, they had a plan for losing the entire operation. Unless all these people plan on not supporting a single Gamurs publication, they come out ahead.

Why am I wrong? How is the holding company going to be negatively affected? What am I missing? Or, on the other hand, is everyone missing that I’m talking about Gamurs Group which owns almost twenty different operations each with millions in revenue?

[–] mindbleach 1 points 9 months ago

How do you write this and not immediately wrap yourself in a black-and-red balaclava?

[–] [email protected] 39 points 9 months ago (1 children)

While The Escapist grew stronger and bigger year after year under Nick, their owners at Gamur were upset the site didn't reek of panic and despair like a good corporate environment should.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago (2 children)

What exactly do they mean by "flagship"? The Escapist had Zero Punctuation and... that's about it. Aside from some Yahtzee Croshaw podcasts, I can't think of anything else worth watching on there.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Adventure is Nigh, Cold Take, Design Delve, Stuff of Legend, 3 Minute Reviews, some documentaries like the Spiritfarer one.

They have more, but those are what I watched.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

3 Minute Reviews were good, but reviews are relatively easy to shovel out. Their essays were so bad, I started to actively avoid them.

The Anatomy of Sekiro comes to mind in particular. Competently structured but devoid of any meaningful observations.

It feels like these guys where working to meet a quota.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Hey now, that's not fair. They also had Extra Punctuation :P

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago

I‘m pretty sure some greedy suit killed the whole company overnight and I can‘t control my schadenfreude

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

So many talented creators have left over bad working conditions. Not surprising it's still going on now.