A unknown number of GameSpot employees have been laid off following its acquisition by Red Ventures.
GameSpot senior social producer Ashley Oh, branded content editor Will Fulton, Australian editor and senior video producer Edmond Tran, host and producer Jess McDonell, and producer Tony Wilson all announced their departures on Twitter, and some indicated the redundancies are linked to the recent Red Ventures deal.
“Since GameSpot/CNET were sold and it’s not yet clear whether I’ll still have a job in a month, please get at me if you know of any open positions that need a smart weirdo with lots of experience in storytelling, writing, and editing,” wrote Fulton on September 17, before confirming his departure in a follow-up tweet on October 8.
Red Ventures agreed to buy CNET Media Group, which also includes brands like Metacritic, Giant Bomb, and CNET, in a $500 million deal last month. Commenting on the layoffs in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, the company said it would “retain a vast majority” of staff, thereby confirming (in a rather roundabout way) that some would be let go.
“As part of Red Ventures acquisition agreement with ViacomCBS, Red Ventures will retain a vast majority of CNET Media Group employees and assets under the Red Ventures business umbrella,” said the company. “The deal has not closed and to protect the privacy of our employees we cannot release additional information at this time.”