Fandom Entertainment has laid off an undefined number of staff across several properties, including Giant Bomb, GameSpot, and Metacritic. These properties are primarily focused on publishing content related to gaming and television shows.
According to Variety, the company employs over 500 workers, and the layoffs have affected roughly 10% of its workforce across many locations. According to Kotaku, employees were taken aback by CEO Perkins Miller’s surprise announcement during an all-hands meeting.
The layoffs come months after Fandom purchased a slew of brands from Red Ventures in October, including Comic Vine, Cord Cutters News, GameFAQs, GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic, and TV Guide. At the time, sources informed TechCrunch that the deal was worth roughly $55 million.
During the announcement of the acquisition, Fandom stated that the transaction will allow the firm to “super-serve” its advertising partners and provide fuel for its data platform and gaming e-commerce verticals. Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, and entrepreneur Angela Beesley established fandom in 2004.
Some people, including GameSpot entertainment editor Mat Elfring, video producer Jess O’Brien nicknamed “Voidburger,” and graphic designer Justin Vachon, tweeted about their dissatisfaction with their jobs.
We have reached out to Fandom for comment and will update the story if we receive a response.
Several gaming and entertainment media sites have been laid off in recent months. Some IGN employees were laid go last month, while Polygon employees were laid off as part of Vox’s job reduction in July.
