Alyssa Mercante, who was a Senior Editor, announced she’s leaving Kotaku.
Alyssa Mercante via Smash JT YouTube
In a post to X, Mercante wrote, “Work news: After exactly two years, I’ve decided to leave Kotaku and my role as senior editor. 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 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
In a subsequent post, she claimed her decision to leave the outlet was made before layoffs were announced.
Alyssa Mercante on X
It’s unclear what she’s referring to here, but Kotaku laid off staff in November 2023 with AdWeek reporting that 23 individuals were let go just days after it dismissed Editorial Director Merrill Brown.
A spokesman for Kotaku’s parent company, G/O Media, confirmed the layoffs, “While G/O Media is a lean, nimble organization, we are not immune to the economic headwinds rattling our business.”
Alyssa Mercante on X
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As for what Mercante has “coming down the pike,” YouTuber Hypnotic predicted she “will most likely be a DEI Consultant for SBI, the company she ran damage control for.”
Alyssa Mercante has been fired / supposedly left Kotaku.
She claims she has something “in the works”
Alyssa Mercante is currently traveling to Montreal Canada. Montreal is where Sweet Baby Inc is located.
Alyssa Mercante will most likely be a DEI Consultant for SBI, the… pic.twitter.com/GSkpIQFyUD
— Hypnotic Live (@HypnoticL69763) November 7, 2024
Mercante did recently share that she was at Compulsion Games, which is located in Montreal, Canada, the same city where Sweet Baby Inc. is located.
Furthermore, Sweet Baby Inc. is consulting on South of Midnight, which is currently being developed by Compulsion Games.
Alyssa Mercante on X
Despite Mercante touting journalistic integrity in her post about leaving Kotaku, she infamously ran cover for Sweet Baby Inc. back in March and made it a point not to include the facts that Sweet Baby Inc. employees attempted to harass Brazilian gamer KabrutusRambo, get his Sweet Baby Inc. detected Steam curator list shut down, and get his entire Steam account banned.
Rather Mercante painted Sweet Baby Inc. as the victims and a harmless design company despite Sweet Baby Inc. CEO Kim Belair sharing in 2019 that employees at large AAA studios should terrify executives with social media cancel mobs.
She said during a Game Developers Conference, “If you’re creative working in AAA, which I did for many years, put this stuff up to your higher-ups. And if they don’t see the value and what you’re asking for when you ask for consultants, when you ask for research, go have a coffee with your marketing team and just terrify them with the possibility of what’s going to happen if they don’t give you what you want.”
Belair continued, “Because they have to consider– I say that out loud as a joke, but it’s actually very, very true because if you start to consider the people who are player and audience facing and you have to deal with mitigating harm and with keeping the sentiment around their game and their project positive, there’s like a genuine value that you could impress upon them both ethically and financially. You could say this is important.”
Belair elaborated, “It’s also a valid discussion to have because if you’re working with a thin narrative budget and you work in AAA, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised or dismayed by the amount of money that marketing can give you.”
As she got to the end of her presentation, Belair would also say herself that her goal is “wokeness” in the video game industry, “None of what we’re doing is about ticking boxes or about a veneer of wokeness. We actually have to care about making this stuff.”
Alyssa Mercante via Blerd Without Fear! YouTUbe
What do you make of Mercante exiting Kotaku?
