Ex-Giant Bomb Launch Nextlander - Alex Navarro, Brad Shoemaker, & Vinny Caravella #nextlander #giantbomb #patreon

Well, it finally happened! I logged into Twitter, only to see a message from Vinny Caravella that he, Alex Navarro, and Brad Shoemaker have formed a new, post-Giant Bomb, video game focused company — Nextlander! https://twitter.com/VinnyCaravella/status/1401942157368365061 If you’ve been living under a rock – Alex Navarro, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinny Caravella left Giant Bomb in May 2021. There…

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Oh shit!

Having digested a bit more of this now, I wonder how long this has been in the works. People are saying this is related to the Red Ventures buyout, but I’m not so sure.

When I knew our renovation was coming up, I paid $8 for a one-month Giantbomb premium pass and loaded up on a bunch of shows and podcasts to throw on my tablet. In particular, I wanted to listen to the new HotSpot episodes.

The HotSpot, if you didn’t know, was the old Gamespot podcast that precluded what would eventually become Giantbomb’s Bombcast. Not long after Dan left Giantbomb last year, Jeff, Vinny, Alex and Brad basically picked up right where they left off, at HotSpot episode 360.

I haven’t listened all the way through The HotSpot, but those first five or six episodes are definitely framed as nostalgic pieces. There’s a very strong vibe of “Let’s look back on all we’ve done, because we’re not going to be here much longer.” Vinny will pitch a topic, like review culture, and they’ll step through time going over the different eras of leadership and what was going on behind the scenes.

Listening to it, I definitely had this thought of “This feels like something they’d put together if they were planning to retire soon” -- but I pushed that out of my head, because it felt like there was no way that would ever happen.

That started six months before the Red Ventures buyout. In fact, episode 360 of The HotSpot was posted almost exactly one year ago to the day, and three out of the four people on that podcast are now leaving the site.

I think that, regardless of whether or not this was planned that long ago, these guys have been doing a lot of long-term thinking about their lives over the last year. And I think the pandemic and working from home and how that has shaken everybody and everything up, I can see how they’re reevaluating their life goals. Jeff has always said he’s in this job for life, because he feels like it’s the only thing he’s qualified to do, but what even is this job for him anymore? He’s not going in to an office anymore. None of them are.

Do they really need an office anymore? Do they need to be a company?

My only hope is that they stay in touch after this. Thankfully, that seems like it would be the case -- I know Giantbomb people have been regulars on Abby’s streams now, even though she isn’t official GB staff anymore. Some things are going to change, but I imagine if you want to see Brad and Vinny making each other laugh in a sandbox game, that’ll still be out there. These guys aren’t going to just stop playing all video games, and the allure of having an audience will undoubtedly draw some of them back in.

It wounds me deeply to think that this could be the end for Giantbomb. They always felt so niche, but I feel like they have been deeply, deeply influential to this industry. But the fact of the matter is, I almost never go to the Giantbomb website anymore, when that used to be the only place I’d post my writing. I’ve been skipping more and more Giantbomb videos, even on Youtube. I still like the people there, but they’ve been in one killer slump over the last 9-10 months, which was now more obviously a tailspin.

Giant Bomb's Brad Shoemaker, Vinny Caravella, & Alex Navarro Are Leaving #giantbomb

Brad Shoemaker, Vinny Caravella, and Alex Navarro announced today via the Giant Bombcast on Twitch, that they are leaving Giant Bomb. This Bombcast was their final podcast and their last day will be Friday, 5/7/21. This one hits hard, folks. https://twitter.com/VinnyCaravella/status/1389680247273099266 I have been a fan of Giant Bomb since even before, day one. Look through my Video Game…