Let me tell you the best thing about being an editor-in-chief Kotaku.
There is a writer or a producer on the team. They have an idea. It’s something real, something he has to tell people, something worth knowing. They write it. They post it. And readers show up. Maybe I helped create the space for them, but really they are. They did it. And I cheer them up.
And that’s it.
You can probably tell where this is going, right?
Since May 2009, first as deputy editor of Kotaku and since 2012, as editor-in-chief, I have tried, more than anything else, to achieve those successes. In good and bad times, against the background of the growing chaos that the different versions of our company have brought perpetually, I put my energy into storage. Kotaku walking and keeping Kotaku True. As I did this, I kept in mind what he was doing Kotaku wonderful in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2019, which you name, was his staff: writers, editors and producers, each of them past and present, putting their journalism, criticism and the rest of the ideas on the page. And my main task was to make sure I could and support them the way they did.
I am leaving Kotaku. Today is my last day as I prepare for a glorious holiday month. Maybe I can go for some long runs, teach my kids to ride a bike, actually finish Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (does it ever end?). Then I’ll start my new thing, still journalism about video games and more of a return to a time when I was writing and reporting my own stuff. I’ve been missing it for the last few years. No, I still don’t say where. Follow me on Twitter, folks.
Kotaku, like all Gawker Media sites, was born in rebellion. Deadspin was designed to rub ESPN, Isabel to counter retrograde women’s magazines, Gawker let’s crush everyone and Kotaku to challenge the establishment Gamespot and IGN (or to finally take control of one of them – keep kicking ass, Tina!)
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The purpose of all our sites was to get closer to the truth. La Kotaku the truth involves games and game culture. We had to offer the ideal, as articulated by Gawker founder Nick Denton, of the real story. We were expected to show the public the reality that the institution’s media reporters did not put in the newspaper, but told each other after class at the bar – or to get as close as possible to this. I liked that directive from Nick, definitely more than the one he suggested I take pictures of every day with people playing faces playing games (uh, thanks for the suggestion, boss!). This journalistic value was not unique to Gawker Media, but the fervor to follow it will motivate me forever. I hope he will continue to lead the staff Kotaku, current and former, to always dig deeper, always avoid fireworks, always work harder to bring the reader into what you know, to always find ways to be more real.
Over the years, I had high hopes Kotaku, for our reports to reach the necessary details that would not otherwise see the light of day, for our critiques to improve our appreciation and to think of an environment still barely understood.
My main goal was to challenge people’s expectations about what a great gaming site would write and who would write it. I was inspired by small sites and brave voices, especially those on the revolutionary site Border house, which recognized the need to cover politics and people and to reach out and address a diverse reader, at a time when the big workplaces were not doing so. Year after year, I was motivated by bold employees who dealt with taboo subjects because they mattered. I wanted one Kotaku which felt bold and inclusive, one that would make a more diverse set of readers feel welcome and seen by the site. I hope I’ve made some progress there. There are many more things to do.
This was a dream job, although it was occasionally a nightmare. Deserved. I’m grateful for that Kotaku there is, that there was a site where readers will show if EiC is interviewing the head of Nintendo or a “boring” random commenter. So thank you readers for that. Indeed, I thank the millions of people who read this site every month. And thank you to everyone who spoke to me for a story and answered five more questions.
Thanks to Brian Crecente, Nick Denton, and all the Gawker Media leaders and their permutations who believed in me and my team and / or just stayed the hell out of it. (And speaking of power brokers, thank you New York Times for running Kotaku reviews in its pages for several years. It was pretty great, too.)
Thank you to everyone I’ve worked with – every reporter, critic, blogger, producer, artist, social media editor, finance worker, salesperson, office manager, event coordinator, and anyone else who has been a part of Kotaku or provided assistance. Some of you are still with this company, others have moved on. I am rooted for all of you to prosper. I also want to greet the staff on our sister sites who embody that rebellious animating spirit.
I want to thank our current employees – Alexandra, Ari, Ash, Brian, Ethan, Ian, Lisa Marie, Luke, Mike, Nathan, Zack, Tim and our frequent partner John – for their incredible strength in the last and hardest years. What you all did on the site during what we had to live and work together is amazing. You’re just as great Kotaku the team as if it ever existed.
I also want to give a special sign to Riley MacLeod, a long-time editor and, more recently, general editor. He’s a great team fighter, top critic and trusted friend. He worked so hard to keep this site together through so many storms and it was my indispensable, de facto MP for this challenging last year.
It was an honor to serve this team and the readers of our site. Staff from Kotaku, just one last request: please do not withdraw my comments on gray.