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Kotaku EIC Resigns Over New Editorial Edict

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It sounds like no ones going to Kotaku period. Change strategy or perish.
Nobody goes to their YT channel either.

Take a skim of all the videos they made all year and most of them are about 2,000 views. Some are even under 1,000. They got lucky with some Baldurs Gate 3 vids at a 200-300k views each, but most are barren of views.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
What's an herb?
802292-2279437859_248da26525.jpg
 

DonF

Member
I hope Kotaku dies soon TBH

They have never contributed one single good thing to gaming in their entire history
thats not true! I once saw them talking about neogaf, thats why I joined here, many many years ago.

I remember they being my only source of videogame news. This is like 15 years ago btw.
 

Moneal

Member
"According to a source close to the situation, Kotaku's staff will be expected to create 50 guides a week at the site."

Wow. Good luck, have fun.
could just be a tactic to weed out the slackers as well. not really needing 50 but if you get more than 10 a week instead of complaining the whole time you are good.
 

Zheph

Member
They should just stop at this point. Guides are not the solution.. they made too many bad decisions and recruitments, consequences
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
Tips and guides will not bring in traffic. Theyre a dime a dozen on the web and an easy google search away.
Depends, high quality guides that are simple to follow are extremely valuable. If they carve out a reputation it could be very good business for them. Better than their current reputation which is that they are a bunch of freaks.
 
Shit... they are going to have to play and understand video games now to write these guides.

That's neither the spirit nor the stated goal of Kotaku.

I don't blame them if they need to go find a public area to scream mindlessly at passerby's to cope.
 
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Correct.

Kotaku is digital waste/ toilet paper. Has been since everyone left after the Spamfeller takeover. Do not visit that site.
 

RavageX

Member
I think a gaming site should involve guides, reviews and news on games.

No strong personal opinions, no political bs. Do some gaming related interviews, have a game of the month and review/preview anticipated games. Not bs like, 10 tips for blah and they are things they tell you in the tutorial. That’s just lazy, but very common.

I think the 50 guides a week is a way to get rid of staff. 50 a month is too much even.
 

HoodWinked

Member
i don't really understand the business model of this site, cause the articles that seem to get the most views are all the ones that lean political, those have hundreds of comments and this is despite most comments being hidden and blocked.

guide articles would likely not have many comments but it just doesn't seem like where people would go to get info about how to actually play a game, which most i'd imagine would be to go to reddit, youtube or steam forums if needed help on a game.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I think a gaming site should involve guides, reviews and news on games.

No strong personal opinions, no political bs. Do some gaming related interviews, have a game of the month and review/preview anticipated games. Not bs like, 10 tips for blah and they are things they tell you in the tutorial. That’s just lazy, but very common.

I think the 50 guides a week is a way to get rid of staff. 50 a month is too much even.
Its crazy. You got game sites with payrolls, webmasters and freelancers who go belly up. But then some random YT dudes doing videos on shooter maps, weapon guides and bullet spread analysis can get way more views. No fancy expenses or website. Just make some good content and gamers can find you.

I think a lot of these payroll kind of sites treat YT profilers as low brow dumb shit. They think that kind of content is too low brow and they'd rather do an article which is half political and half gaming, where they think they are Shakespearean uber minds.
 

nush

Member
the articles that seem to get the most views are all the ones that lean political, those have hundreds of comments

Twitter metrics are not what game sites want. There's no engagement with the actual topic the site exists for.
 

Kikorin

Member
Not surprised, any website that want to survive have to do that. Wrote for videogames website in past and traffic that could come from guides (especially on the long term) is incomparable with news. Also, Kotaku "news" are shit most of the time.
 

StueyDuck

Member
The sad thing is these people will all fail upwards, one will get some HoD at Sweet baby, another will write for Bethesda or naughty dog and another will somehow get brought in to write on the next big star wars Movie project or something.

So im glad to see Kotakus limping wimpering body stumbling and gasping for it's last breaths but this only gets worse once these weirdos are released into the wild.
 
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The Fuzz damn you!

Gold Member
I think a lot of these payroll kind of sites treat YT profilers as low brow dumb shit. They think that kind of content is too low brow and they'd rather do an article which is half political and half gaming, where they think they are Shakespearean uber minds.
That’s not the problem.

YouTubers gain popularity by connecting directly with their audience. Their faces, voices and mannerisms are key marketing elements. These are things that a corporation cannot own. Sites like Kotaku try to deprioritise their staff’s identities as much as possible. Kotaku want Kotaku to be the marketable identity. Otherwise, it’s too easy for one of their employees to gain a following through their marketing budget then leave, taking their audience with them.

That’s also why journalists so often present their personal opinions in first-person plural - they’re presenting the views of “us,” the site, the company, not the individual. That’s an editorial requirement.
 

StereoVsn

Gold Member
that's like calling your back alley drug dealer a pharmacist.


Somewhat disagree, Polygon is the usual shit in terms of editorials but they actually have really good guides and a nice layout. When I google for vidya guides I will often go to Polygon before other sites.
Polygon and IGN do have respectable guides sections. Well, IGN of course also has GamePass.
 

nush

Member
7 guides per week per writer? No matter how gud you are that's impossible.

They are being setup to fail. Step 2 is community sourced content "We'll give you $50 if your guide is published on Kotaku". Keep two staff to write news and it's done.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Try to come up with 7 guide ideas. Then imagine doing that every week and delivering them. No thanks.
 
If they can get themselves to the top of the google search results it could bring in more traffic. When I search for guides I usually just click the first one I see.

I sometimes do this as well, click the first or second link that comes up,
but please try not to click on .fandom domains.

Their garbage pages are usually incomplete, have factual errors, and just repaste wiki contents. Their presence in search engines is hurting meaningful searches looking for actual answers/guides/hints
 

Imtjnotu

Member
To be fair...

And I don't believe I'm saying this, she's got a point.

Like who the fuck goes to Kotaku for game guides? It would require the people writing to actually play games, and 50 guides a week?

Not even GameFAQ's could manage that shit.
We don't even go to that shit for news

It's nothing but a bunch of woke bitch ass cry babies with another better to do than cause drama.
 

Unknown?

Member
I sometimes do this as well, click the first or second link that comes up,
but please try not to click on .fandom domains.

Their garbage pages are usually incomplete, have factual errors, and just repaste wiki contents. Their presence in search engines is hurting meaningful searches looking for actual answers/guides/hints
Ah so just like Wikipedia. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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