The Giant Bomb and GameSpot layoffs announcement arrived during a surprise meeting.
Gaming news outlets Giant Bomb and GameSpot had layoffs just four months after Fandom's acquisition of them. Read on for details.
Giant Bomb and GameSpot layoffs
Roughly less than 10% of employees were affected by the job cuts, according to Variety. The publication noted Fandom's total workforce of less than 500 employees. Affected brands included Giant Bomb, GameSpot, Metacritic, and TV Guide alongside other Fandom employees, Variety added.
The Giant Bomb and GameSpot layoffs announcement arrived during a surprise meeting that involved Fandom CEO Perkins Miller, according to Kotaku. Miller declined to answer questions, Kotaku continued.
Fandom layoffs
Former employees posted on Twitter about the layoffs. According to an ex-video producer at Giant Bomb, two out of the three staff editors experienced job cuts.
Meanwhile, the former lead brand designer for Giant Bomb, GameSpot, and TV Guide wrote that he felt completely numb.
Giant Bomb itself refrained from posting on Twitter for the remainder of Jan. 19. "It's been a tough day for us at Giant Bomb and our friends at GameSpot," the tweet stated. "We'll be going dark the rest of the day in light of today's news."
Fandom acquisition
Back in October 2022, Fandom acquired a bunch of gaming brands from Red Ventures in addition to Giant Bomb, GameSpot, Metacritic, and TV Guide. These included GameFAQs, Cord Cutters News, and Comic Vine.
"This deal will continue to expand Fandom’s global fan platform to super serve entertainment and gaming fans as well as partners," the announcement stated. "The new combined platform will drive engagement across every step of the consumer journey - reference, community, trends, ratings, reviews, news and commerce."
The announcement did not disclose the financial details, but TechCrunch sources noted that it was roughly $55 million.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more news and updates.