IGN and GameTrailers (Patreon)

I bet those are two words you were not expecting to see in the Patreon for Easy Allies. Today I helped IGN announce that they have acquired GameTrailers.com, YouTube.com/GameTrailers, and the entire video archive that still remains after several site revisions over the years. Their purchase was just the URL, the YouTube account, and the videos. They didn’t buy a business, because there was no longer any business to buy.

I have no idea whether this transaction took place during or after my employment at Defy Media. I was brought in recently to chat about what the site and channel could be in the future, and to communicate to all of you what the heck is going on. From my perspective, it seems like IGN sees the GT brand as too good to pass up, and as the person who created it and slaved over it for 14 years, I completely agree with them.

IGN is actually going to try to do what Viacom and Defy Media never could - get trailers for video games on YouTube.com/GameTrailers. It was always tricky even getting those for the main channel, as a lot of publishers and developers now prefer to drive traffic directly to their YouTube link, instead of one from another, unaffiliated channel.

But, they’re IGN, and I think they’ll have a lot more influence, experience, and creativity to do things with the brand that we never could, or never even thought of. I’ve always enjoyed their trailer editorials, like Rewind Theater, and they continue to drop one awesome exclusive after another. In these last few years GT for me became less about the site and more about the people, and I still get to work with those amazing people every day, so I’m ready to let the site go.

Trust me, GameTrailers is in good hands. When I heard about this it put a smile on my face. It was tough to let GT go after being so close to it for such a long time, but just 2 months into Easy Allies I’m fully committed to this new endeavor. It’s difficult for me to imagine a better fate for GT considering how things worked out. I’m ready to see what someone else can do with a location so many of us are used to visiting, especially with all I’ve seen them do so far. So, just like you, I’ll be waiting to see what happens.

Let us not forget, in this moment, the most important thing: the video game trailers themselves. Do they not deserve to have some place to call home that welcomes them with open arms and shows them triumphantly to all the world for the glorious gifts of electric emotion and volcanic hype that they are and forever shall be?

I think they do.

Love & Respect,

Brandon