Kotaku Senior Alyssa Mercante lashed out in anger in a number of tweets after Kotaku Australia was shut down.
Alyssa Mercante on X
As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Pedestrian Group is slashing at least 40 jobs and ending its “licensing deals to publish third-party brands including Vice, Refinery29, Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Kotaku in coming months.”
The outlet adds, “These titles will no longer be published in Australia, with the majority of their staff to be let go.”
A screenshot from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
READ: Kotaku Australia Shut Down
B&T also reported that Pedestrian Group CEO Matt Rowley revealed the licensing deals were scrapped because it faced “financial headwinds.”
He added, “Given these factors, we’ve made the tough decision to focus on our wholly owned Pedestrian brands where we control the strategy, the content, the product, the sales and the outcome – the entire business. This means that we will transition out of our current brand licences, which will reposition our business for the future,”
“This will have an impact on roles within the group and I appreciate the uncertainty this change creates, so we will be in contact immediately with those people. Where possible, we will look for opportunities for redeployment and will continue to work with everyone over the coming days to support this difficult transition,” he concluded.
Yasuke executes an innocent man pressed into a fight in Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Kotaku Australia Managing Editor David Smith confirmed the site was being shut down. He wrote on X, “Folks, I have some sad news to share. Today, the story of Kotaku Australia comes to a sad and abrupt end. It has been one of the great joys of my life to wake up every day and run a site I love with all my heart.”
He added, “To all my comrades at Pedestrian Group, I love you, I have never worked with better or more talented souls in all my life. To the readers, thank you for showing up every single day, even the whingers in the comments.”
David Smith on X
READ: Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante Challenges YouTubers To Fight, Vara Dark Accepts
Mercante reacted to the news in a couple of threads posted to X. First, she wrote, “Sending solidarity and love to the amazing writers at Kotaku AU and all the other sites affected. You are all stars and deserved better. Capitalism is cruel. Your work remains, always.”
She continued, “The internet and the rats infesting it are even crueler but a reminder: cheering for good people losing their jobs while men get rich off their labor is morally bankrupt.”
Mercante then concluded, “And btw, I hate that I even have to say this but let’s stop the reactionary ride before it gains speed: we are not affiliated with Kotaku AU, we don’t share anything except a love for games and good reporting.”
Alyssa Mercante on X
READ: Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante Threatens Legal Action Against YouTuber Smash JT
Also Mercante had no problem celebrating Smash JT’s website getting shut down. She posted to X at the end of May after Wix took the site down, “Oop! Website not detected! Huge shoutout to Nick Calandra who reached out to Wix about this site and consistently followed up. Clearly they agree that he was engaging in targeted harassment, among other things.”
She added, “This is a great precedent, a great sign that there are people and places on the internet who know targeted harassment and cyberbullying when they see it!”
Alyssa Mercante on X
As for her claim that Kotaku Australia is not associated with Kotaku, this is clearly a lie as well. Pedestrian Group was clearly licensing the name of Kotaku to use in Australia and was thus associating itself with Kotaku.
On top of that Kotaku was clearly syndicating articles on Kotaku Australia as seen with Ethan Gach’s article “It’s Time To Jump Into One Of The Longest-Running Japanese RPG Series Out There” being published on Kotaku and Kotaku Australia.
Alyssa Mercante via The Aristocratic Utensil YouTube
Following this thread, Mercante then lashed out writing, “You have no idea what journalism is. Your websites look like they’re from 2001. They’re riddled with typos. You use yourselves as a source for ‘stories.’ You have an internet connection and a webcam and think you have something worthy to say (you don’t). We could set my nana up with a Razer Kiyo in her care home and she’d make more coherent shit.”
Alyssa Mercante on X
She added in a subsequent post, “It’s a shame that private equity and Google have gutted legacy media sites and the stupidest, cruelest people in the world are rushing to fill in the gaps!”
Alyssa Mercante on X
What do you make of Alyssa Mercante throwing a temper tantrum over Kotaku Australia shutting down?
