Life After IGN (With Max Scoville And Brian Altano)

On a very special Inside Baseball Week episode of the show, we’re joined by Max Scoville and Brian Altano—formerly of IGN until recent layoffs forced them to create their own independent network, X Button. It is not an understatement to say that Scoville and Altano knew IGN inside and out; both had been at the site for over a decade. We discuss how a publication that, to many, is synonymous with games journalism grew and adapted as it went from being the biggest fish in a relatively small pond to just another voice on the algorithmically-driven, content-obsessed internet. They also tell us what it was like when people used IGN as a target for their many grievances with games journalism, which was basically every day, for a different reason each time. Now, though, at X Button, they get to start over with a clean slate. A mere two weeks into the venture, they tell us what, ideally, that will look like. Lastly, we discuss a subject much nearer and dearer to our hearts than any of that: chicken nugget dipping sauces.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and special guests Max Scoville & Brian Altano

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

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