Everyone at waypoint rules. Thanks a lot to all the staff and everyone who contributed over the years - I checked out a while ago from here, and games in general, but waypoint has and will always be a special thing for me personally. Much love!
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Hey, that is great to hear. Thanks to the mods for being forward thinking.
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Truly tragic that the gaming sphere is losing a Waypoint. It’s no exaggeration that I’m a better, more thoughtful, more compassionate person today because of Waypoint. Thanks to all the Waypoint staff who’ve contributed to this place throughout the years and best wishes to the current staff. I hope they all land on their feet okay.
Also, shoutouts to this community for making this one of the best online spaces to talk about games 
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For various reasons I had been dipping into the Waypoint YouTube archives this last week (Inscryption finale, Austin’s BotW permadeath run, Breakfast and Battlegrounds, considering a third or fourth rewatch of Tactical Tuesdays) and it really made me feel happily nostalgic. I’m so sorry that the crew is having to deal with this sort of upheaval; I’ve been laid off before, so I know what a terrible feeling it is. I really hope that they are able to quickly find their footing again doing something they love. Selfishly, I hope that it is in some sort of listener-supported format, because I know I would gladly contribute well more than $5/month for this sort of content.
Also, Waypoint is literally the best name possible for any sort of critical video game community, and I hope that somehow they can pry it away from Vice’s lawyers.
FCGH 4eva
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This is awful. I’ve been reading Waypoint since the beginning and so much amazing work has been done under the banner of Waypoint (and briefly Vice games). Where will we even find writing of that type in the future as more and more sites close?
Unfortunately I never listened to Waypoint Radio but that’s because of my general issues with podcasts.
Waypoint was one of several ingredients that changed the way I think not only about video games but things in general so this feels a little personal too.
It’s also unfortunate that I never participated in the forum but again it’s more a matter of me never managing to participate in online communities.
And finally I hope everything goes well for everyone who worked at Waypoint
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Not the news I expected to log in to see. This site and community (even if I haven’t posted nearly as often as I used to) have meant a lot to me. It felt like this was the place to read nuanced takes on games and projects that I care a lot about. No other site felt like this one.
I hope everyone lands on their feet. I’d love to see something new and great come out of this.
Just an edit to add:
I really hope the future doesn’t look like a site covered in banner ads that form a tiny window through which we read AI generated consumer review tier games coverage. Coverage that could itself be considered uncritical advertisement of the thing it’s detailing.
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They just mentioned this on the Dirty Boys stream and I’m truly and horribly gutted that they’ll never get to Final Fantasy Tactics. I was gonna beg them to let me do the essay on that game, it’s one of my favorite games of all time.
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I created an account to post a similar sentiment. I’m currently subscribed to Waypoint +, and I’ll gladly, eagerly, subscribe to a Patreon or other service where the money actually goes into the pockets of the wonderful Waypoint crew that’s done so much to enrich my life over the years.
If I had to read between the lines and guess, I don’t think many of the crew want to go back to anything like the uncertain grind of freelancing, so they may be hesitant to hitch all of their horses to a private Patreon, but I’d encourage - hell I’d beg - them to consider a communal side gig in addition to whatever else they all end up doing.
If something rises from the ashes I’ll be there, with my wallet, supporting you. I don’t want Waypoint to go away, but if that’s not something I can control, I want to do everything I can to encourage ya’ll to look towards something similar in the future.
Whatever you do, be good, and be good at it.
PS: Maybe I finally need to get a twitter account to follow everybody?
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Come join us on teal.social where people post their cool game boy and bicycle projects!
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For years my morning tradition is get out of bed, make coffee, and open up the forum to catch up on posts. This was the first thing I read yesterday after waking up and a day and half later it still feels hard to process. Its no exaggeration that Waypoint helped make me a better person. The site, podcast, and crew have been a constant companion since 2017, pushing my politics, introducing me to new art and ideas equal parts radical, hilarious, and beautiful. They were welcome voices on my headphones both teaching me and just there as I taught myself.
Waypoint lived up to the name, they did the damn thing. A guide, a rest stop on the hard days, a destination on the horizon. Always something new and exciting to learn and strive for.
A huge thanks to the crew, start to finish, and best of luck in whatever comes next. I’ll definitely be there where ever you go next.
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This is what might get me to sign up for Mastodon finally ^^
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I should be clear-> I’m not suggesting they go re-setup waypoint.
I think (I need) a 2 or 4 times a month podcast from Rob & Patrick and others if they want. I feel like their views and discussions of current events, politics, sports, and everyday life along with video games are something needed in the world.
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I’m so bummed by this news I don’t know what to say. Waypoint has brought me a lot of joy, made me think, made me cry… the Savepoint events were always so inspiring and emotional
I really hope everyone affected by this finds something new quickly.
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(I just wanna re-post my thoughts here from the podcast post)
It’s hard to find words to express feelings on the news, but I suppose ‘melancholy’ will do for now.
Waypoint genuinely radicalised me for the better, and has raised my standards for games reporting and criticism drastically.
I’m sure I’ll miss the articles that aimed to provide a space for diverse and insightful voices, but most of all I’ll miss the people. The folks who’ve left or lost their jobs at Giant Bomb, Polygon or Fanbyte over the years haven’t disappeared completely, they continue to do great work in different places, and I hope the same will be said for the Waypoint crew, whether they will attempt to form something new, or lend their talents in other spaces.
Even if it takes different forms, I believe there’s a place for the spirit of Waypoint to persist.
Speaking of, the unofficial discord is still going strong, it’s a great community that I’ll always enjoy interacting with.
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I would read this fwiw if you put it up somewhere
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I saw the news briefly while in the middle of a conference so I didn’t have time to really think about. Now that I’m back, it’s all hitting at once.
I can’t really feel anything else except anger and frustration at the shortsightedness of the people behind this situation. Of course I’m grateful for the years of inspiring, revolutionary, humanist, radicalizing, genuine, and incisive work that all the people involved in Waypoint have contributed to. Of course I’m grateful for helping me find the language to understand and develop my politics since the 2016 election, as well as the humanity and compassion that envelops the leftist project. Of course I’m hopeful and confident that a group as talented as this will find a place to do the things that compel them, whether that’s in games media or otherwise.
But I’m still angry. Damn the suits and their “economic headwinds”. Damn the capitalist hegemony that cannot rest until everything beautiful in this world is reduced to ash. Damn the sycophants who are already dancing on this grave. Damn them all to hell. Thank you Waypoint, past and present, and damn it all.
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My mornings are going to be a lot different without being able to listen to the latest episode of The King of Executive Function. Sincerely hoping everyone everyone lands somewhere awesome. I empathize a lot with Patrick’s feelings of being unsure of your worth after doing the same thing for a long time, it is easy to take things for granted and remain in a routine kind of state. But the longevity and the purpose that feels like it steadily emerged over the years are both example enough that everyone involved should be considered great at what they do. Cheers Waypoint Crew.
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Yeah, similarly, I’ve been processing this in the middle of a bunch of other things [and in the mean-time everyone here has made the cogent comments I would have…]
It’s been said before, but it’s been a pleasure to see an actual critical space for video games (and other media!) survive for so long in the current climate of short takes over reasoned thought. It’s been even better that it was a left-of-centre, liberal (in the European sense of the word) space - one should always at least rage against capitalism, rather than succumbing to capitalist realism.
I think what’s most depressing is the fact that basically everyone commenting (and the Waypoint staff themselves) is resigned to this ending this way being a natural consequence of the nature of media stuff in the current late-stage-capitalist environment.
That said: whilst it’s still awful that the Waypoint staff are being laid off, at least the community’s planning means that we will retain this community space and the discord - so thanks to mods on both sides for making this an iota less awful than it could have been…
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This news hit me like a ton of bricks last week. I don’t even know what to say, other than thank you to the Waypoint crew and community. Waypoint has given me the tools to think and talk about games in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise. I know it’s responsible, at least in some small way, for the person I’ve grown into over the last few years. This is a tremendous loss, on a personal level and for video game criticism at large. I only hope that it inspires all of us to go out an establish our own little Waypoints (including this community) wherever we can.
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As the years have worn on, it’s become increasingly clear just how unique a diamond in the rough this place has been, both the crew and community. Principled integral journalism from charismatic and sincerely diverse voices that I wish we got to hear more often elsewhere, along with maybe the only online forum I know with such a degree of freedom for reciprocally respected thought about games and their surrounding worldly contexts.
For real, it’s practically the only public forum where I’ve felt free to put a piece of my nonbinary autistic lefty self out there and feel it’s not regarded with derision or apathy or suspicion (even when I am clearly going on way too long lol), and there’s really no picking of fights or things like that. And where I can always see the other human beings behind the little names and avis beaming through thoughtful and often extensive posts. Even as this place has gotten smaller, the moderation team will always deserve boatloads of credit for sculpting it into this positive of a space, and keeping it that way for so long.
And it says something that, for as many people have moved on from the crew and have felt like losses in their own right, and for as many bumps in the road that there’ve been, the overall identity of Waypoint’s never really faltered. I hope whatever comes next for everyone is good, but I still echo the sentiment that gaming will be worse without Waypoint around.
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