While things might be looking a bit different professionally for Alyssa Mercante, the future doesn’t seem bright for the video game news site Kotaku. Recently, a series of layoffs hit the already bare bones outlet just as its senior editor, Alyssa Mercante left for new opportunities. If you thought a captain goes down with their ship, Mercante somehow managed to do so and jump aboard another sinkable vessel!
These layoffs were sent down by Kotaku parent company G/O Media just a year almost to the day that the company made a series of cuts across the various outlets it owns.
Jen Glennon via Kotaku YouTube
READ: Alyssa Mercante No Longer Working At Kotaku
Kotaku fired writers Willa Rowe and Moises Taveras after hiring them earlier this year. At the same time, Kotaku’s senior editor Alyssa Mercante, perhaps the most well-known member of the Kotaku team due to a series of public battles against prominent YouTube personalities, announced that she was also leaving the publication.
Since then Mercante seems to have landed a writing role with Rolling Stone, authoring a piece on Halo 2’s development.
Alyssa Mercante via Blerd Without Fear! YouTube
“Work news: After exactly two years, I’ve decided to leave Kotaku and my role as senior editor,” Mercante wrote on X. “I am eternally grateful for Kotaku’s editorial team and all that they taught me during my time there. They are some of the best in the business, and I will be forever proud to have shared a masthead with them. They continuously fight to maintain the editorial pillars that make Kotaku great and hold onto their journalistic integrity in the face of increasing pressure to compromise that.”
She also added:
“It’s been a long few months, during which I’ve learned a lot about myself and my value as both a woman and a writer. This is the right decision for me. I have some things coming down the pike, so keep your eyes peeled.”
Alyssa Mercante on X
However, Mercante noted that her departure had nothing to do with the layoffs. She stated that she’d given her notice to the outlet before the layoffs went into effect.
Since then, she has rekindled her feud with YouTuber SmashJT. Mercante has vowed to bring legal action against the popular commentator as their online war of words escalates. Full disclosure: That Park Place is legally represented by Dhillon Law Group and Attorney Ron Coleman who likewise represents SmashJT.
The Kotaku layoffs don’t seem to be sitting well with the company’s staff.
G/O Media’s management is once again punishing workers for its own bad decisions. Management mandated that some writers stick to “ service” posts, and now that the numbers aren’t panning out (surprise, surprise!), two of those writers have been laid off. Cruel and misguided.
— Carolyn Petit (@carolynmichelle.bsky.social) November 7, 2024 at 2:11 PM
READ: Lawyer Representing Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante Threatens Kiwi Farms With Litigation
Kotaku’s managing editor Carolyn Petit took to her Bluesky account to lambast the decision.
“G/O Media’s management is once again punishing workers for its own bad decisions,” she said. “Management mandated that some writers stick to ‘service’ posts, and now that the numbers aren’t panning out (surprise, surprise), two of those writers have been laid off. Cruel and misguided.”
The loss of these writers plus Mercante brings Kotaku’s full-time staff down to six individuals. This includes editor-in-chief Austin Williams who has only been manning the ship there for a few months. Williams took over after previous editor-in-chief Jen Glennon resigned. Her resignation came after a mandate from G/O Media that stated Kotaku would move away from video game news and commentary in favor of game guides. At the time that G/O Media wanted the outlet producing up to 50 guides per week.
These guides constitute the “service” posts mentioned by Petit.
Jen Glennon on X
READ: Kotaku Editor-in-Chief Jen Glennon Resigns
Glennon posted on her X account on March 21, “Some personal news! I’ve resigned from Kotaku and Jim Spanfeller is a herb.”
Jim Spanfeller is the CEO of G/O Media. For those who have never heard someone call another human being a “herb” before, it’s defined as a derogatory term describing someone who is “worthy of being mocked. Weak, chumpish, and generally to be avoided,” according to Urban Dictionary.
In 2023, G/O sent down 23 layoffs throughout the company, which included its editorial director Merrill Brown. These layoffs also impacted Kotaku.
Screenshot of Kotaku Detected
“While G/O Media is a lean, nimble organization, we are not immune to the economic headwinds rattling our business,” G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller sad in a memo send out to employees following the 2023 Kotaku layoffs.
It’s strange that G/O would continue to make cuts to Kotaku instead of selling the platform outright. The company has offloaded a number of its other websites this year, including The Onion, Gizmodo, Deadspin, and Jalopnik.
How do you think these layoffs will impact Kotaku? What does this say about the games journalism industry? Do you think G/O Media will still own Kotaku a year from now? Sound off an let us know!
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