The Escapist staff resign following termination of editor-in-chief Nick Calandra
The Escapist staff resign following termination of editor-in-chief Nick Calandra
Journalists from The Escapist have resigned in response to the termination of its editor-in-chief Nick Calandra. On Mon…
Calandra shared more information on Discord, revealing that the "entire video team" has resigned in response.
This includes Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, who created the video review series Zero Punctuation.
Confirmation from Yahtzee: https://nitter.net/YahtzeeCroshaw/status/1721687212541280425
Today, I formally resigned from The Escapist and Gamurs. I don't have the rights to Zero Punctuation, but whatever happens you'll be hearing my voice again soon, in a new place. Join this discord for updates in the coming days: discord.gg/uFNQKKh6Jq
From the linked Discord:
nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 5:47 PM @everyone since things are happening fast, the entire Escapist video team has either been fired or resigned as of tonight / tomorrow.
This Discord will become the place for what's coming next.
More news tomorrow.
nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 6:22 PM Resignations and firings pinned here:
https://twitter.com/Darren_Mooney/status/1721683973506568532
https://twitter.com/TheOtherFrost/status/1721683636410261846
https://twitter.com/DesignDelve/status/1721677391368425571
https://twitter.com/nickjcal/status/1721640314203464045
https://twitter.com/YahtzeeCroshaw/status/1721687212541280425
https://twitter.com/JanjoZone/status/1721697403097542874
https://twitter.com/RexiconJesse/status/1721719792007090444
https://twitter.com/_mattjlaughlin/status/1721714880859042098
https://twitter.com/willcblogs/status/1721704228182274123
https://twitter.com/SigmaGears9/status/1721695395376415162
https://twitter.com/ParkesHarman/status/1721692595166794023
https://twitter.com/sassqueenamy/status/1721693823729066025
https://twitter.com/McBiggitty/status/1721922759368872016
https://twitter.com/Harlack/status/1721906693620273233
nickjcal24 — Yesterday at 8:28 PM @everyone we're going to set the Discord to read-only for the rest of tonight so we can get other work done that we need to do.
Tomorrow you will know more about what our plans are for the future, along with a livestream on Wednesday at 11 AM CT.
We'll share the links to where all that will be tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you SO MUCH for the support. It means a lot to the whole team and we're excited for what we're cooking up next.
Please be good to one another and keep the positivity up. What happened happened and if you've been with the new version of The Escapist since 2019, you know we just keep moving forward.
We're excited and you should be too.
As has been said I'm sure without Yahtzee the site is basically over.
Which is too bad I really enjoyed extra punctuation and the Slightly Something Else podcast. The whole point of having a subscriber model is that you're not beholden to advertising or the algorithm or nebulous corporate goals, as the hosts have aid many times.
I guess it goes to show getting acquired by a corp I yl ever benefits the corp
85This reminds me a lot of what happened to Waypoint with Vice. They were running on an ad-based model since their inception, and then they launched Waypoint Plus (their subscription model) to basically save themselves from extinction. Then Vice itself hit the bankruptcy wall, so the Waypoint staff were all laid off because, while Waypoint Plus was profitable and sustainable, it wasn't growing.
Then the laid off staff just launched their own subscription-based small business and, at least for now, it seems like they're better off. Based on other comments, it looks like that is what the Escapist Staff is doing with Second Wind.
34The entire video team has moved here:
https://twitter.com/SecondWindGroup
https://www.twitch.tv/secondwindgroup
https://www.youtube.com/@SecondWindGroup25The Cold Takes videos makes me feel like I'm getting some scotch and sitting down and listening to an old friend talk about games in a 1950s detective style bar.
14@lobut @itmightbethew ya, cold take actually turned me on to the escapists as a brand rather than just a ZP fan. Was my favorite show they had.
6
ZP ran for a very long time. At this point I am not even mad that it ends.
someone go check what are some longest running web series and where does ZP stand on that list33Homestar Runner is technically still going (though maybe one or two episodes a year, now) and started in August 2001, so that puts it at 22 years.
16Also Ashens, he's been at it forever.
10
I didn't even realise it was still running until recently. He had to have been close to 20 years.
11https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Punctuation
Release: July 24, 2007 – October 25, 2023
So a little over 16 years.
13
finally hated the escapist loved zero punctuation but it's so annoying how it flooded my sub feed with a million videos I didn't care about and never would I literally only watched the solo yahtzee stuff
22And they just started uploading Zero Punctuation (same-day) to YouTube! Ah well, guess I’ll unsubscribe. Sad to see
21What do you mean? Zero Punctuation has been on YouTube for more than 10 years.
13
I hope these guys reorganize and get back to it quickly. I enjoy almost everything Nick and company have been doing over the past few years. I can't imagine the Escapist YT channel will stay afloat without Yahtzee.
16They’re gained 6,000 subscribers from their initial discord post less than an hour ago
15Looks like their YT channel is up too. Good news!
4
Croshaw will be able to go anywhere. I'm sure he can negotiate his team to sign with him. This was either very bad move from them or it's what they planned for some reason we don't know about.
15May have something to do with this.
To be honest, ever since that news hit, I've been expecting something like this to happen.
I'm actually surprised it took as long as it has.
25That's a nice blocklist, thanks Gamurs.
7Prima games... I always knew Brady Games had the better strategy guides!
3Sounds like a nightmare..
3Gross.
3
Feels like a big kick in the nards considering they just released a new video series from Yahtzee like two weeks ago, and Frost recently began the video series Stuff of Legends. I'm willing to bet this was a major shock.
5How long has Gamurs owned The Escapists? I thought it was getting suspicious lately how many different things they were trying to get money so quickly.
They were putting more sponsor segments in ZP videos at different points and Nick would respond in the comments when people complained, trying to find a good place to put them. Then they started letting Yahtzee curse more and offering the uncensored version on their subscription service. And these changes were quickly one right after the other. I should've known something like this was coming, but I'm still sad about it. I hate capitalism so much. Why does these corporations have to ruin all my favorite things?
3