Goodbye from Tom

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I never thought I’d leave VideoGamer. A project started at university some 14 years ago, it became my life. I’ve always loved video games and games media, but the website took this to obsessive levels, enabling me to live, breathe, play, and work in the industry. While my work hours naturally reduced as I realised the importance of a family life, the site, my staff, and the community are always on my mind. I read every article, watch every video, and agonise over every comment to make sure we’re doing the best we can. Soon that ‘we’ won’t include me, and that makes me very sad.

VideoGamer has evolved over the years, but one thing has remained throughout: great people. For a relatively little website we’ve hired some incredibly talented staff, many of whom I now consider good friends. From the very first hire through to the latest additions to the team, I hope working at VideoGamer has been worth it. I’ve enjoyed working with all of you and I’m thankful for everything you’ve given to the site over the years. Even the freelancers we’ve used have mostly been good people.

If you’re reading this as a fan of VideoGamer, fingers crossed you’ve had a good time visiting the site and will continue to do so. Many of you contribute directly to the running of VideoGamer through monthly Patreon pledges, which is something quite frankly I never imagined being possible when we launched the site over a decade ago. We’ve tried to entertain you by pushing our small pool of resources to the limit, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve produced through a mixture of experience and raw youthful talent.

In recent years VideoGamer has been focused on putting the fun into games media. Video games are fun, so writing and making videos about them should be fun too. I think we achieved that. If you’re worried VideoGamer 2017 isn’t going to be like old VideoGamer, don’t be. While things will inevitably change, the team members that remain already have VideoGamer running through their blood, and newcomers will be hazed until they get onboard (we don’t haze people. Well, we’ve only ever hazed one person. Bratt. We hazed Bratt. But he deserved it).

VideoGamer has always been more than a job, it’s part of me, so leaving is without a doubt one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s going to leave a massive hole in my life that I expect will always remain in some form. Sadly, sometimes in life you just have to do the thing you don’t want to do.

Goodbye.

This Flipnote animation I made years ago seems fitting.

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