Let me tell you the best of being an editor in chief of Kotaku.
There is a writer or producer on the team. They have an idea. It’s something real, something they need to tell people, something worth knowing. They write it. They post it. And the readers show up. Maybe I helped make that space for them, but in reality it is them. They did it. And I encourage them.
And that’s it.
You can probably see where this is going, right?
Since May 2009, first as deputy editor of Kotaku and since 2012 as editor-in-chief, I’ve tried more than anything to make those successes come true. During good times and bad, amid the escalating chaos that the different versions of our company constantly brought about, I put my energy into keeping Kotaku go and keep Kotaku true. As I did that, I kept in mind that what made Kotaku great in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2019, you name it, has been the staff: the writers, editors and producers, each of them past and present, who put their journalism, their criticism and the rest of their ideas on the page . And my main job was to make sure they could, and to support them as they did.
I am leaving Kotaku. Today is my last day, while I prepare for a wonderful month of vacation. Maybe I can do some long runs, teach my kids to ride a bike, really finish Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (does it ever end?). Then I get into my new thing, still video game journalism and more of a throwback to a time when I wrote and reported my own stuff. I’ve missed a lot in recent years. No, I’m not saying where yet. Follow my Twitter, folks.
Kotaku, like all Gawker Media sites, grew out of rebellion. Deadspin is designed to skewer ESPN, Jezebel to counter retrograde women’s magazines, Gawker to beat everyone and Kotaku to the establishment of Gamespot and IGN (or to eventually take charge of one of them – keep kicking, Tina!).
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The purpose of all of our sites was to get closer to the truth. Bee Kotaku the truth was about games and game culture. We had to deliver the ideal, as expressed by Gawker founder Nick Denton, of the real story. He expected us to show the public the reality that reporters from the mainstream press hadn’t been in the papers, but told each other after a few hours at the bar – or get as close to that as possible. I liked that guideline from Nick, certainly more than the one in which he suggested we take pictures every day of people making faces while playing games (uh, thanks for the suggestion, boss!). That journalistic value wasn’t unique to Gawker Media, but the zeal to pursue it will motivate me forever. I hope it keeps the staff afloat Kotaku, current and former, to always dig deeper, always avoid artifice, always work harder to tell the reader what you know, always find ways to be more real.
Over the years I had a lot of hope Kotaku, for our reporting to get to the necessary details that would otherwise not see the light of day, for our criticism of improving our appreciation and thinking about a still poorly understood medium.
Most important of my goals was to challenge people’s expectations of what a major gaming site would write about and who would write it. I was inspired by small sites and brave voices, especially those from the groundbreaking website The Border House, who recognized the need to deal with politics and people, and to reach and engage with a diverse readership, at a time when the big outlets didn’t. Year after year, I was motivated by bold employees who dealt with taboo topics because they mattered. I wanted one Kotaku that felt bold and inclusive, making a more diverse group of readers feel welcome and seen by the site. I hope we’ve made some progress there. There is still so much work to be done.
However, this has been a dream job, a nightmare at times. It’s been worth it. I am grateful for that Kotaku exists, that there is a site where readers will show up or interview the EiC the head of Nintendo or a random “boring” commenter. So thanks to the readers for that. Really thank you to the millions of people who read this site every month. And I want to thank everyone who spoke to me for a story and put up with my five one last questions.
Thanks to Brian Crecente, Nick Denton and all the leaders of Gawker Media and his permutations who believed in me and my team and / or just stayed away. (And while we’re on the subject of power brokers, thank you The New York Times in front of run Kotaku reviews in its pages for a few years. That was pretty cool too.)
Thank you to everyone I worked with: every reporter, critic, blogger, producer, artist, social media editor, finance officer, sales associate, office manager, event coordinator and everyone who was a part of Kotaku or provided support. Some of you are still with this company, some have moved on. I strive for you all to thrive. I also want to pay tribute to the staff at our sister sites, who embody that inspiring rebellious spirit.
I want to thank our current employees – Alexandra, Ari, Ash, Brian, Ethan, Ian, Lisa Marie, Luke, Mike, Nathan, Zack, Tim and our longtime partner John – for their incredible steadfastness in these most recent and most difficult years. What you have all done on the site during what we have had to go through and go through together is amazing. You are just as much one Kotaku team as there has ever been.
I also want to give a special nod to Riley MacLeod, a longtime editor-in-chief and, more recently, editor in general. He is a great team therapist, top critic and trusted friend. He has worked so hard to keep this site together through so many storms and has been my indispensable, de facto deputy for the past, challenging year.
It has been an honor to serve this team and the readers of our site. To the staff of Kotaku, one last request: please don’t lower my comments to the grays.