Back in early December I wrote an opinion piece around the VGA’s and GameTrailers.com where I predicted that the video game website may be in trouble and that Viacom could decide to just shut the doors.
To be clear I stated
“If GameTrailers real goal is to be the number one site for video game trailers and previews then they are obviously failing and when you are failing and are owned by a corporate monolith there is no light at the end of the tunnel. When they one day decide to stop propping the site up it will disappear and with it so will the award show.”
So it wasn’t with the most surprise that I saw tweets doing the rounds this morning stating that Viacom had sold Gametrailers.com.
First up we had Michael Pachter tweeting.
I just heard that Viacom sold @GameTrailers. Guessing that there will be no more Pach-Attacks 🙁 Hoping all of my good friends end up OK
— Michael Pachter (@michaelpachter) April 28, 2014
Which was quickly followed by another industry insider, Kevin Dent, stating
Congrats to Alloy Media on snagging Game Trailers! Alloy is one to watch.
— Gentle Kevin Dent (@TheKevinDent) April 29, 2014
According to Kevin, Alloy Media are the guys behind the popular EscapistMagazine which first came to my attention when they started hosting the Yahtzee reviews.
However all is not exactly clear at this time as Michael Pachter has now posted a new tweet stating he was misinformed.
I apparently had bad info on GT, no deal to sell, heard it from a disgruntled employee. Sorry for the about face, the person was convincing
— Michael Pachter (@michaelpachter) April 29, 2014
Now from my experience I’ve felt that Kevin’s tweets have rarely been wrong and unless the same disgruntled employee contacting them both I believe there is something happening.
My guess is that it’s being sold but the deal hasn’t been officially completed yet so for the sake of stock prices and employee jobs nothing can be announced.
I’ve always liked GameTrailers but recently, last few years, I’ve found their video player to be annoying so if Alloy are taking over I’m hoping they just revert to using the YouTube player and then I can have a single point of reference for all my video game trailer needs.
Last Updated: April 29, 2014
Hammersteyn
April 29, 2014 at 11:19
Personally, I subscribe to a Youtube channel like Boogie,Angry Joe,AVGN,Tobuscus,etc. A website really needs a strong drawing card to pull people in. If you guys didn’t post links to their videos I wouldn’t go there at all.
Kromas
April 29, 2014 at 12:01
Escapist is pretty cool. They are my second choice for reviews and stuff.
hillbilly gamer
April 29, 2014 at 12:46
Hate them anyway, has the worste vidoe player for people that have bad internet connection.