It’s been a rollercoaster ride following Giant Bomb over the past couple of weeks!
As a fan for probably the last 8 or so years. I’ve been a weekly listener of the Bombcast and the Voicemail Dumptruck. I used to love the Beastcast, and I try and keep up with the exceptional Blight Club, too.
Feeling relatively close to the goings on of Giant Bomb, witnessing staff and founders leave. Watching it somehow survive several ownership swaps. It’s always felt like Giant Bomb was teetering on the edge of extinction somehow.
Then along came Fandom…….and then a leadership change. And the powder kegs were seemingly lit.
I’m no insider, no expert. Merely a bystander watching it all happen. So please, consider this the cliff notes of what’s gone on.
Giant Bomb explodes
A couple of weeks ago, you could sense the tension in the podcasts. Talks about meetings running over content, or content having to be cut short to join meetings.
Giant Bomb was largely the same as the last few months. But a few comments here and there gave a bit of insight.
Then came the brand safety. The Giant Bomb Death knell in some ways.
This triggered an already edgy Dan Rykert to a point where he basically did a WWE promo. He’d taken the guidelines to the extreme on air, whistle and all.
Then his CM Punk moment, whereby he does a stream, essentially resigns from Giant Bomb and tells everyone not to be a narc, and deleted the video.
Shortly after Jeff Grubb leaves, Mike Minotti says he won’t work on Giant Bomb content any longer. Jeff Bakalar has to be pretty quiet as he’s in this weird rock and hard place.
We see Niki, Shaun and Jan all relatively quiet about things. But people are talking about needing work and sharing Venmo/Cashapp links.
It’s looking dire and I’ll be honest, Dan lighting the fire made me sad because there were obviously other ways to go about things. However, it’s just not who he is.
Rumours and speculation
What does a group of fans and a sub Reddit love the most? Speculation, conjecture and stating such things as foregone conclusions!
Giant Bomb has a deep, loyal and invested fanbase, for sure.
What followed was a week or so of all of the above. Theories, hopes, reflections on old times. It was all bittersweet, but the loyalty was evident.
The want and almost the need for Giant Bomb to exist in some way, still, was apparent.
The odd tweet/skeet from people propagated discussion for a day or two. Questions about what things could mean, how should the fans act now?
Where will they go for their Giant Bomb fix?
With the community rallying to archive and share legacy content. It was all very final indeed.
PAX East 2025
Saturday. 10th May 2025.
Mention of Jeff Bakalar doing a panel on Jeff Jeff’s Bizarre adventure.
Some synchronised tweets and skeets from Dan, Jeff, Jeff, Jan and the Giant Bomb account the day before.
What is going on?
Giant Bomb as we knew it was dead. But how odd that people would be there together.
Sure, each of them could be at PAX to help with whatever they have planned next. Will Jeff Grubb and Dan start something together with Minotti?
Is Jan still at Giant Bomb/Fandom?
“We hope you will join us for Giant Bomb’s PAX East panel at 7pm Eastern at the Albatross Theater.”
That’s all anyone had. Pictures of Dan and Bakalar’s son encountering each other in the wild, despite being mortal enemies. Some “my friend said this”, “my friend saw that” etc but nothing real.
Giant Bomb was still something, somewhere. Somehow.
Then the panel. Midnight here, I can’t stay awake.
But I knew by the time I woke up I could catch up on whatever had gone on.
“Giant Bomb has new owners, and you’re looking at them” – Jeff Grubb
Well, what a way to start a Sunday morning with a coffee!
Giant Bomb Reborn
By some magic, Giant Bomb is still a thing.
Now, some of this is taken from what I’ve read. I can’t claim to know the background dealings. But here’s how I understand it.
Jeff Bakalar has found the right ears at Fandom and presumably spoken with the team from Giant Bomb, to instigate a purchase of the brand/business.
As I understand it. Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb bought Giant Bomb and have now got Dan, Jan and Minotti on board as owners, too. (I can’t really verify this as 100% accurate, so bear that in mind).
Giant Bomb lives!
I’d really love to sit and talk to Jeff Bakalar about how all of this came about. What it means for him and his broader role at Fandom (presumably no more?), and all the details.
What the future looks like, is obviously anyone’s guess. But the tentpole Bombcast is surely back to business asap?
There’s talk about Giant Bomb at nite, at Summer Games Fest again. Blight Club must be a given, too.
Giant Bomb is now fully independent, all funding goes straight to the team, and it’s been such a big win all-around.
Support and the future
This is a gamble for all the guys, for sure. I have no doubt that the following is there for them, though.
Giant Bomb premium, Twitch, YouTube, merch, podcast listens. Every penny earned now goes to the team. So every interaction and engagement means more than ever before.
Suddenly, listening to them isn’t something I want to do solely for fun. I’m honour-bound to give them the views and listens to help with that ad revenue!
Checking the store to get a tee to show some pride.
Giant Bomb has always felt rag-tag and genuine. Now it’s back out of corporate ownership, it’s time to show as much love as possible.
Hopefully old names will appear from time to time, even those leavers that helped make it what it is in the first place. I’d really love some Gertsmann/Rykert interactions again. Or maybe Vinne/Brad/Alex on a Giant Bomb show.
Who knows? But the world is a slightly better place, and opportunity/excitement feels viable.
Giant Bomb
It’s back, there’s a lot to unpack and watch unfold, but Giant Bomb is here and it’s looking promising.
I’d really love to understand how it finally came about. What plans for the future looks like, and how sustainable it feels.
Going independent means that a lot rests on the shoulders of the team now. It’s a different world and things will have to be different, just to make ends meet and to succeed.
It’s time to be excited to see what Giant Bomb looks like without the reigns on. Although, there needs to be structure, for sure.
As it stands, the team are tee’d-up ready for a big swing. And here at ninjarefinery.com we can’t wait to see them knock it out of the park.
An inspiration, a constant source of entertainment and gaming news. Now a lion able to roam free in the jungle they helped grow in the first place.
Awesome.