Michael Cripe

I am back on the job hunt.

Please let me know if you are looking for:
Events Management
Content Strategy
Scouting / Biz Dev
Producer for Live or Taped Segments
Someone to talk about indie games for hours

Please let me know and please share with others.
Contact cthuloops at gmail.com.

Thank you!

But if you hear of any good jobs while I'm hooting and hollering on Batman: The Ride, email erikadamswrites@gmail.com.

And for a full archive of quality pop-culture writing from the past 17 years, visit erikmadams.com.

Anyway if anyone is looking for a video editor hit me up I have like 15 years experience and go stir crazy when I don’t have projects to work on!

Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public. The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events. Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts. At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI

threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical. This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech. While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.

Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:

I’d hold off on playing via Switch 2 for now. Digital Extremes hasn’t been able to nab a dev kit yet so you’d be using the OG Switch version through backward compatibility (not quite the ideal experience).

Not familiar with how Warframe performs on Steam Deck, but I love it on PS5!

Wowow congrats! 🥳🎉

Why Sydney Sweeney Needs to Be Canceled Her career needs to end.

Sydney Sweeney needs to be canceled, and it's disgusting that the Republican Party supports her.

Read my essay on it here: charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/why-sydney...

I say this with the abundant love I can muster, you really didn't have to.

You, especially *you* sir, do not need to carry any water for violent racists no matter how right they may be. You don't pay attention to the broken clock
because its occasionally right. You throw that clock away

We don’t deserve Hayley Williams.

Hell yeah

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne has died at the age of 76, just weeks after his farewell show.

Me writing up trailers

AMAZING Congrats!!

I COULD PUNCH ROCKS ALL DAY ITS SO SATISFYING I MIGHT BE WORKING THROUGH SOME EMOTIONS THROUGH DONKEY KONG? I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT.

Grown person who says “I asked chat gpt and it said-“
somehow brings a worse energy to the room as “I spoke with my dearest mommy, she always has the best ideas, and SHE said we should-“

oh wow ily Disco 🫶

anyone saying this has also probably not paid any attention to the indie dev community's broad feelings on this subject, nor the ridiculously high quality of the art coming out of it year after year

The Escapist has been sold again.

Here’s hoping all of our old work doesn’t just get wiped in the process 🙃

I love him sm HBD.

Dying Light: Retouched Update Isn't Coming to Nintendo Switch as Techland Denies Plans for Switch 2 Port - IGN The Dying Light: Retouched update will add enhanced visuals and remastered audio to Techland’s original zombie parkour experience on PC and consoles tomorrow – but Nintendo Switch players won’t be abl...

www.ign.com/articles/dyi...

I, for one, cannot wait to Chunk Jump.

Talked to so many people who were at the first protests of their lives today. Ex-Republicans, introverts, 90-year-olds and 3-year-olds. This was at an intersection in a 60,000 person town. Haven’t felt hope like this in my life.

Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.

A vinyl record for the Hollow Knight original soundtrack.

Putting out good vibes (please, god).

I love them so much.

The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point guy

The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point again

today

As if there weren't already enough reasons to hate target smh.

a chimpanzee is standing in front of a door in a room ALT: a chimpanzee is standing in front of a door in a room

My Switch 2 won't be delivered until next wednesday

A cool thing about our government systems is that when a cop got shot a few days ago literally everyone in the county got multiple screeching phone alerts letting us know about it but when a tornado was about to wreck our shit it was almost impossible to find current, accurate information.

hi folks - i know SGF is just around the corner, but we're also spinning up plans for the annual @bloodgodpod.bsky.social charity stream benefitting Trans Lifeline. our current stream dates are June 28 and 29.

new or old pals, if you're interested in participating in some way, please let me know!!!