Giant Bomb sold to site’s staff by Fandom

Fandom is selling the website and video outlet Giant Bomb to two of its long-time staff, Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb.

Financial terms were not shared as part of the announcement.

The news represents a shift from earlier this month, when Fandom said the site was undergoing a ‘strategic reset’ following a disagreement on new content guidelines that led to staff exiting the brand. This generated a heated response on social media platform BlueSky.

Now, Grubb and Bakalar have full ownership of the brand, including its operations. The site is financially supported by users.

“Giant Bomb is now owned by the people who make Giant Bomb, and it would not have been possible without the speedy efforts of Fandom and our mutual agreement on what’s best for fans and creators,” said Bakalar and Grubb in a joint statement.

“The future of Giant Bomb is now in the hands of our supporting community, who have always had our backs no matter what. We’ll have a lot more to say about what this looks like soon, but for now, everyone can trust that all the support we receive goes directly to this team.”

GameSpot owners Fandom said the move was a “strategic decision” to transition the brand “back to its independent roots”. “We’re confident Giant Bomb is in good hands and its legacy will live on with Jeff and Jeff,” the company said in a statement.

Giant Bomb first launched in 2008, founded by former GameSpot staff following the dismissal of editor Jeff Gerstmann.