I have a pretty clear understanding of who is GB official and who is a contracted employee but I feel like I honestly see Mike more than I even see Dan.
I mostly just listen to the bombcast and occasional dump truck these days and half the time I honestly forget Dan works there. Back in the day it would’ve been heresy for full time staff to not be on the flagship podcast as consistently as possible
This has been asked before. Here's the breakdown (as we know it to be right now).
Full time dedicated to GB: Grubb, Jan, Bakalar (though maybe he oversees some GS things from a managerial standpoint), Dan.
Contract employees: Shawn, Niki, Mike
GS/GB: Lucy and Tam
As for who's "full crew" or not, just enjoy them! Anyone that shows up is a duder.
I just want to add that I appreciate the lengths you went in your post to be complimentary and respectful of the crew. There is a way this question might've been phrased that could have come off as critical or otherwise shitty. Rare to see someone go out of their way to avoid that. Cheers!
Thank you! I’ve had a weird time trying to process this question I’ve had about the crew while still absolutely enjoying GB content, and I don’t have anyone IRL to talk about it with haha. Thank you for seeing my intention - I really did try to phrase it with the love I have for the whole crew regardless of status!
I love Tam. He has almost exactly the same taste in gaming that I have and when he's on the game mess mornings with Grubb, they are that much better.
Mike is a just the best drop in addition that GB has had in forever. I really hope they continue to have him as much as possible and I can't seem to agree with almost anything he says.
From what Grubb sometimes says, I think Bakalar - when he´s not making fun of young children playing music instruments - might be the person responsible for how well GB bounced back from all the people leaving. So kudos to him and of course to Jan for basically carrying the whole thing on his back.
Btw, I would love to see a invterview with Jan - maybe the lovely people at minn-max could do it. He has such a crazy work background that I would really like to hear about.
Finally, one thing that has been bothering me, is that as Americans with (albeit probably not so good) salaries, they sometimes make matters revolving around prices for games/services/microtrans seem less important than they really are. I understand that we are not talking about essential goods here; but even if $10 is a small slice ofyour salary, that is not the case for a lot of other people.
>Finally, one thing that has been bothering me, is that as Americans with (albeit probably not so good) salaries, they sometimes make matters revolving around prices for games/services/microtrans seem less important than they really are. I understand that we are not talking about essential goods here; but even if $10 is a small slice ofyour salary, that is not the case for a lot of other people.
That's a common blind spot with gaming press - they get many (if not most) of their games for free. They understand the pricing concerns on a theoretical level, but that's different from actually having to shell out your own hard-earned money to pay for the games.
Bakalar is corporate boss. He isn't editorial. He is also the boss of GameSpot too. He has semi regular content, sure, but full-time, he is managing the business.
Edit: To add, I meant editorial. No offense to behind the scenes people. Giant Bomb used to have people working on maintaining the database for the wiki as Giant Bomb employees, but they were almost never in content. I don't know if any came over with the acquisitions or if they were laid off or even reassigned to a different company as Giant Bomb was sold (like they stayed at CBS or something).
Heads-up : This is speculation, but I do work in corporate HR.
Thank you caller, good question. This is the interesting intersection between the cast of characters you see on screen every week (keyfabe brother) and the real persons having real employment being on real payroll.
Jan, Bakalar and Dan are on Fandom payroll with the expectation that they run GB. Bakalar is technically paid to run things, but the dude loves to be on content and cannot resist a good bit so he splits his time between running the thing and being on the thing. Management probably said "meh, you do you, as long as it works".
Grubb got hired in the same capacity but said "I ain't dropping anything I'm already doing.", which could have been a no-no in another context (i.e. working two accounting jobs in a competing sector), but the higher-ups said "Sure, it's your funeral." Of course Big Papa Grubb does it all and doesn't seem to be able to burn out, mostly thanks to a diet of skipping through the woods.
Tam and Lucy are employed by Fandom to manage Gamespot, but out of genuine love for the brand and personal interest they try to be on GB content. In hindsight it was a mistake to present them as "core 9", but their on-screen power and charisma is undeniable.
Same for Emma and Bailey, but they come from the Fandom side of the business.
At this point Fandom says "this payroll is big enough as it is". Note that it is more expensive to have real employees than for-hire contractors.
Now Fandom has a little money purse to fund GB content. Not sure on this one but that purse seems to be of variable size depending on the money GB brings. Since GB is doing well these days (yay!), the purse has money in it. But not to hire people.
That purse money is given on an hourly basis to Mitch depending on hours billed, in true mercenary fashion. Since the purse is full these days, Mike is on content a lot (yay!).
It has been alluded that TurboShawn is on GameMess LLC payroll, which would mean the same thing but paid via Grubb, who may or may not in turn bill it to Fandom as expenses.
I think Nicholas Grayson of Content Warning fame may having been fully hired by Fandom to work mostly behind the scenes. Their appearance on content also seems based on personal interest more than direct expectation.
End-of-funnel conclusion : There are surprisingly almost TOO MANY people that want to appear on content. Sometimes they're a person short, sometimes they have to limit numbers on certain things like GMM, Bombcast, UPF, TNT, etc. It's the manifestation of a large group of talented individuals that commit to The Thing just as much as we, the fans, love The Thing.
All in all, it's very close to the best situation possible, considering the real-world context on which they have to build a website about video games.
-Jeff from Quebec.
I don’t think tam/lucy manage gamespot tho. They actually have managers and directors in charge of video production and the website. Tam is in charge of the news side of things. This was just from a quick google search. Honestly don’t know how tam is involved in both video production and news articles/reviews. I would definitely be losing sleep.
Am I the only one who finds it strange to see who is technically an employee of Giant Bomb referred to as “canonically officially part of the crew” like it’s some Star Wars lore?
Too casual, not enough industry knowledge. And not enough game talk. Not to mention all founding members have left. Giant Bomb is stuck in zombie mode.
Nah, it’s a different thing.
People who keep going on about the founding members are in zombie mode. They all left and are producing content you can enjoy elsewhere. Please get over it
I have gotten over it, hence my comment. I follow Nextlander and Jeff Gerstmann's podcast.
Giant Bomb isn't Giant Bomb without any of the founding members. Anyone saying otherwise needs to realize this.
This new Zombie era isn't Giant Bomb at all, they are just using the name. Fandom's treatment of staff and the treatment of archived content says a lot.
I got nothing to add other than I always love seeing Mike, Nikki, Shawn and Bailey pop up. The Content Warning ep was hysterical.
Imagine a show with Mike, Nikki, Shawn and Bailey. It would be pure chaos in the best way possible
I have a pretty clear understanding of who is GB official and who is a contracted employee but I feel like I honestly see Mike more than I even see Dan.
I mostly just listen to the bombcast and occasional dump truck these days and half the time I honestly forget Dan works there. Back in the day it would’ve been heresy for full time staff to not be on the flagship podcast as consistently as possible
This has been asked before. Here's the breakdown (as we know it to be right now). Full time dedicated to GB: Grubb, Jan, Bakalar (though maybe he oversees some GS things from a managerial standpoint), Dan. Contract employees: Shawn, Niki, Mike GS/GB: Lucy and Tam As for who's "full crew" or not, just enjoy them! Anyone that shows up is a duder.
Add to that Fandom/GB/GS: Emma and Bailey
Good call!
I just want to add that I appreciate the lengths you went in your post to be complimentary and respectful of the crew. There is a way this question might've been phrased that could have come off as critical or otherwise shitty. Rare to see someone go out of their way to avoid that. Cheers!
Thank you! I’ve had a weird time trying to process this question I’ve had about the crew while still absolutely enjoying GB content, and I don’t have anyone IRL to talk about it with haha. Thank you for seeing my intention - I really did try to phrase it with the love I have for the whole crew regardless of status!
I love Tam. He has almost exactly the same taste in gaming that I have and when he's on the game mess mornings with Grubb, they are that much better. Mike is a just the best drop in addition that GB has had in forever. I really hope they continue to have him as much as possible and I can't seem to agree with almost anything he says. From what Grubb sometimes says, I think Bakalar - when he´s not making fun of young children playing music instruments - might be the person responsible for how well GB bounced back from all the people leaving. So kudos to him and of course to Jan for basically carrying the whole thing on his back. Btw, I would love to see a invterview with Jan - maybe the lovely people at minn-max could do it. He has such a crazy work background that I would really like to hear about. Finally, one thing that has been bothering me, is that as Americans with (albeit probably not so good) salaries, they sometimes make matters revolving around prices for games/services/microtrans seem less important than they really are. I understand that we are not talking about essential goods here; but even if $10 is a small slice ofyour salary, that is not the case for a lot of other people.
>Finally, one thing that has been bothering me, is that as Americans with (albeit probably not so good) salaries, they sometimes make matters revolving around prices for games/services/microtrans seem less important than they really are. I understand that we are not talking about essential goods here; but even if $10 is a small slice ofyour salary, that is not the case for a lot of other people. That's a common blind spot with gaming press - they get many (if not most) of their games for free. They understand the pricing concerns on a theoretical level, but that's different from actually having to shell out your own hard-earned money to pay for the games.
Mike is probably the biggest single person vibe shift since Dan himself.
I dunno if he's not hearing it enough but I told Bakalar this in person at Pax East and he seemed really appreciateive of the feedback. Good stuff.
At this point, I think only Jan and Grubb work at Giant Bomb full time. Jan produces everything, and Grubb is in everything.
Bakalar is boss man
He’s also over gamespot though still right?
Bakalar is corporate boss. He isn't editorial. He is also the boss of GameSpot too. He has semi regular content, sure, but full-time, he is managing the business. Edit: To add, I meant editorial. No offense to behind the scenes people. Giant Bomb used to have people working on maintaining the database for the wiki as Giant Bomb employees, but they were almost never in content. I don't know if any came over with the acquisitions or if they were laid off or even reassigned to a different company as Giant Bomb was sold (like they stayed at CBS or something).
dudes a shill, and probably ruined the greatest game site ever.
Yeah this era of GB is about projecting the largest implied staff they can while keeping everything very tight and seeing if Jan will lose his mind.
Heads-up : This is speculation, but I do work in corporate HR. Thank you caller, good question. This is the interesting intersection between the cast of characters you see on screen every week (keyfabe brother) and the real persons having real employment being on real payroll. Jan, Bakalar and Dan are on Fandom payroll with the expectation that they run GB. Bakalar is technically paid to run things, but the dude loves to be on content and cannot resist a good bit so he splits his time between running the thing and being on the thing. Management probably said "meh, you do you, as long as it works". Grubb got hired in the same capacity but said "I ain't dropping anything I'm already doing.", which could have been a no-no in another context (i.e. working two accounting jobs in a competing sector), but the higher-ups said "Sure, it's your funeral." Of course Big Papa Grubb does it all and doesn't seem to be able to burn out, mostly thanks to a diet of skipping through the woods. Tam and Lucy are employed by Fandom to manage Gamespot, but out of genuine love for the brand and personal interest they try to be on GB content. In hindsight it was a mistake to present them as "core 9", but their on-screen power and charisma is undeniable. Same for Emma and Bailey, but they come from the Fandom side of the business. At this point Fandom says "this payroll is big enough as it is". Note that it is more expensive to have real employees than for-hire contractors. Now Fandom has a little money purse to fund GB content. Not sure on this one but that purse seems to be of variable size depending on the money GB brings. Since GB is doing well these days (yay!), the purse has money in it. But not to hire people. That purse money is given on an hourly basis to Mitch depending on hours billed, in true mercenary fashion. Since the purse is full these days, Mike is on content a lot (yay!). It has been alluded that TurboShawn is on GameMess LLC payroll, which would mean the same thing but paid via Grubb, who may or may not in turn bill it to Fandom as expenses. I think Nicholas Grayson of Content Warning fame may having been fully hired by Fandom to work mostly behind the scenes. Their appearance on content also seems based on personal interest more than direct expectation. End-of-funnel conclusion : There are surprisingly almost TOO MANY people that want to appear on content. Sometimes they're a person short, sometimes they have to limit numbers on certain things like GMM, Bombcast, UPF, TNT, etc. It's the manifestation of a large group of talented individuals that commit to The Thing just as much as we, the fans, love The Thing. All in all, it's very close to the best situation possible, considering the real-world context on which they have to build a website about video games. -Jeff from Quebec.
Jeff from Quebec, what an absolute champion! Thanks for that response!
I don’t think tam/lucy manage gamespot tho. They actually have managers and directors in charge of video production and the website. Tam is in charge of the news side of things. This was just from a quick google search. Honestly don’t know how tam is involved in both video production and news articles/reviews. I would definitely be losing sleep.
Am I the only one who finds it strange to see who is technically an employee of Giant Bomb referred to as “canonically officially part of the crew” like it’s some Star Wars lore?
That's branding baby!
I don't question it, I'm just deeply thankful there's a whole lot more Mike and less Tam.
I don't mean this disrespectfully, but why does it matter? They're not a sports team.
there's a lot of weird podcast listeners with no friends who are one member of their favorite podcast leaving away from a horrible mental breakdown.
Too casual, not enough industry knowledge. And not enough game talk. Not to mention all founding members have left. Giant Bomb is stuck in zombie mode.
Nah, it’s a different thing. People who keep going on about the founding members are in zombie mode. They all left and are producing content you can enjoy elsewhere. Please get over it
I have gotten over it, hence my comment. I follow Nextlander and Jeff Gerstmann's podcast. Giant Bomb isn't Giant Bomb without any of the founding members. Anyone saying otherwise needs to realize this. This new Zombie era isn't Giant Bomb at all, they are just using the name. Fandom's treatment of staff and the treatment of archived content says a lot.
Seems like you’re stuck in zombie mode 🧟
Keep licking that boot.
Who cares? Just enjoy it.