Long-standing video game site Giant Bomb recently went through quite a change as three key staff members left after spending over a decade there. Just over a month after the exodus, Vinny Caravella, Brad Shoemaker, and Alex Navarro have all created Nextlander, which is a “new podcast and streaming project” that is tied to a Patreon. The first episode of the podcast is live on some podcasting services and the first stream will be later today.
https://twitter.com/nextlander/status/1401940490816208904
The Twitter account’s description says that the crew will “play games, talk shop, and have fun,” which sounds a lot like what they did during their stay at Giant Bomb. The Patreon is a little more detailed as it dives into their past careers, expertise, reveals that the podcast will go live on every Thursday, and touches on their Twitch channel, saying they will stream “the biggest and most interesting releases, as well as a wide swath of older games” throughout the week. There will be “extra podcasts, behind-the-scenes material, a Discord community, and more” that will be exclusive to their Patrons.
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The first episode of the podcast is a quick introduction of the crew and a mission statement. Caravella said that he thinks they can “do it efficiently” and do it in a way that “serves the audience the best way [they] think.” He also pointed out that being sustainable was a key part, too, pointing out that a big company sometimes doesn’t make the best decisions for smaller parts in that company. Nextlander is all there is so there is no such corporate oversight. Shoemaker also pointed out that the money that they need to bring in to live is drastically different from the amount of money people have to bring in to “satisfy the year-over-year growth” and that chasing growth is not only good for everyone. Such goals seem to align with being independent.
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Video game press veteran Jeff Gerstmann originally started Giant Bomb in 2008 and grabbed some ex-GameSpot staff who worked alongside him during his tenure there. This included Caravella, Shoemaker, Navarro, and Ryan Davis (who sadly passed away in 2013). Giant Bomb is currently restructuring as Gerstmann said he is “using this as an opportunity to rethink what this site is.”
