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Serious Now-former GameXplain member alleges heavy crunch, low pay. Again.

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Remember how back in 2020, several folks at GameXplain, left the channel to form Good Vibes Gaming, and how in 2021, they revealed GX’s bad working conditions and low pay? Guess what? It happened again. Jake Steinburg, a newer member of the channel, announced last week he was leaving. Today he dropped this.


So, yeah, apparently, things haven’t changed over there, contrary to what some of the other crew have said in 2021.

www.vice.com

Former Workers Allege YouTube Channel GameXplain Was Exploitative Workplace

VICE Games spoke to four former GameXplain contributors, who described being severely overworked and underpaid.
www.vice.com www.vice.com
 
That’s the equivalent to a content sweatshop.

This reminds me a bit of the viral video of an office worker at a podcast looking down upon an employee that was requested to come to a meeting an hour earlier than his schedule, but he said no because he had a workout class at 8am

How dare employees have a life outside work and have established schedules
 
Sounds about right. tbh I'm not sure why anyone would work there after the OG crew left.

I like Jake. Looking forward to what happens next.
 
Well, that stinks... I know this probably means the others are getting this treatment too but don't want to leave 'cause it's something they love to do and get paid for it. I'm hoping for better work conditions on them going forward, or hope they realize that even though they might like what they're doing they could try and start looking for something similar with way better conditions.
 
Not exactly surprising. Didn't the previous people doing the work before also leave, so the shit management was still there? It's really a shame, people need to stay far far away. They've had their chances and they were squandered.
 
It’s really unfortunate how Gamexplain has basically devolved into a content mill. The appeal of it back in the Wii U/early Switch days was informed people with some chemistry getting together to just talk about games, which it’s now obvious was largely about the GVG crew’s talents and is now their shtick.
 
carbvan said:
Not exactly surprising. Didn't the previous people doing the work before also leave, so the shit management was still there? It's really a shame, people need to stay far far away. They've had their chances and they were squandered.
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That sucks. The workplace culture isn't going to change as long as the management responsible for poor working conditions is still there.
 
darthdiablo said:
That sucks. The workplace culture isn't going to change as long as the management responsible for poor working conditions is still there.
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Andre founded and owns Gamexplain. If he leaves, that's basically it for the channel. This isn't some media company with hundreds of workers. It's literally a half dozen, maybe a dozen total if there are some behind the scene people we don't know about, for the whole company. So the problematic person is foundational to the whole channel.
 
Yeah, I don’t know why anyone expected anything different when we already knew this was the case about GameXplain. I stopped watching them altogether last time we found out they treated their employees like crap.


More like GameXploit am I right
 
Christ. You think Andre would've learned after last time. But I guess that was too much to ask apparently. Hope this bites him in the ass again
 
I can't believe a guy who is infamous for overworking and underpaying his employees was overworking and underpaying his employees again.
 
... Christ that's depressing.

Not that I'm shocked, just saddened that people sometimes don't change even when they faced outcry before. Some people just fail to be better. That's saddening.
 
Not surprised but still disappointed that GameXplain are still treating people like this
I can only hope that if anyone else there is suffering under these conditions, that they can get out of it as soon as they can. No one deserves to be treated like this for any kind of work
 
I know, I shouldn't find this amusing, but it just seems so ironic.

I hope Jake finds a good new job (other channels could need that talent), and I hope for the rest of the crew that they do start on preparing an exit strategy. (Assuming that it really is that bad, and since it's the second time, I don't give Andre the benefit of the doubt anymore)
 
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Disappointing but not surprised. GameXplain always kinda was one of those failed content mill YouTube channels. Never quite the depth of an outlet like say, NintendoLife and not enough actual content to compete with GameFAQs back in the day.

Their stuff was useful back in ye olden days for seeing final boss fights and the like, but other than that they've always been so thoroughly middle of the road that I'm not surprised that the people working on it don't find it fulfilling. Nor am I surprised by the crunch ~ the SEO industry is rough on content mills.
 
Man....I hate that this was the reason. I was attempting to be hopeful things changed, but I guess not.

Jake always seemed to shine brightest there so I'm glad he did end up leaving and will follow whatever he does next.
 
Unsubscribed from GameXplain back when the original crew left while talking about how Andre hadn’t been treating them right. Followed Steve and company to Good Vibes Gaming and never looked back.

I had a molecule of a hope that Andre would wise up and start treating his employees better. But yeah, he’s proven again that he does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

totofogo said:
Also, go support Jake on his new show!

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I have never seen him, but I’ll go and give his stuff a listen. Cheers.
 
Razgriz said:
Disappointing but not surprised. GameXplain always kinda was one of those failed content mill YouTube channels. Never quite the depth of an outlet like say, NintendoLife and not enough actual content to compete with GameFAQs back in the day.

Their stuff was useful back in ye olden days for seeing final boss fights and the like, but other than that they've always been so thoroughly middle of the road that I'm not surprised that the people working on it don't find it fulfilling. Nor am I surprised by the crunch ~ the SEO industry is rough on content mills.
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Content mill is a good way to describe it. Even back during the Wii U days I only subscribed for their discussion videos and analysis. The rest of the channel, padded out with game unlock/tutorial content, was worthless to me and felt like just farming views.
 
Ricimer said:
Content mill is a good way to describe it. Even back during the Wii U days I only subscribed for their discussion videos and analysis. The rest of the channel, padded out with game unlock/tutorial content, was worthless to me and felt like just farming views.
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I was there for the trailer analysis of Derrick, and since he left. Nothing to subscribe to since a bunch of their video is just reupload of trailer from Nintendo channel...
 
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I'm sad for the talented people that are still there under Andre and having no better conditions than what the original crew suffered. Maybe that's even worse now, since apparently they are blacklisted from Nintendo and review codes are no more....

But I haven't clicked in a GameXplain video ever since GVG was formed; I hope Jake finds success in their solo carreer! Will definetly check them out!
 
Back in the beginning, Gamexplain was a legit great channel. They had in-depth analyses and discussions. The team had chemistry and everyone was knowledgeable about the topics. There was no better channel for Nintendo content at the time. However, Youtube changed the way it let users discover videos. It became more important to put out videos more regularly or else your entire channel could be lost in the algorithm so that's when you started seeing them churn out multiple videos a day.

The hyper analysis format also lost steam. Nintendo games were being announced closer to their release dates so there was just fewer opportunities to take the time, analyze any trailers, and have it be relevant for an extended period of time. The channel also didn't rapidly grow in the Switch year so to compensate, they just pushed out constant news videos just to up the total views per day.
 
meatbag said:
Unsubscribed from GameXplain back when the original crew left while talking about how Andre hadn’t been treating them right. Followed Steve and company to Good Vibes Gaming and never looked back.
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Same. I unsubscribed specifically when I found out why the OGs left. I have so little patience for exploiting workers and giving low wages. It’ll never not piss me off when news like this comes up.

It’s a shame. I really enjoyed GameXplain back in the day, mostly for the tips (which, looking over their video list, they don’t do a lot of anymore) then eventually for the absurdly in-depth trailer analyses.
 
This sucks. Andre learned nothing I guess from the last incident where the whole old crew dipped. I don't see many people talking about this, but I hope he eventually is put in a position where he has to reflect or face any consequences for his terrible leadership practices.
 
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GameXplain was by far my favorite channel as a kid, but after seeing the max exodus to GVG and hearing all of the stories about what happened there, I haven’t watched a GX video since. I refuse to support Andre, and given this is happening again I feel like I made the right decision.
 
HockeyBird said:
Back in the beginning, Gamexplain was a legit great channel. They had in-depth analyses and discussions. The team had chemistry and everyone was knowledgeable about the topics. There was no better channel for Nintendo content at the time. However, Youtube changed the way it let users discover videos. It became more important to put out videos more regularly or else your entire channel could be lost in the algorithm so that's when you started seeing them churn out multiple videos a day.

The hyper analysis format also lost steam. Nintendo games were being announced closer to their release dates so there was just fewer opportunities to take the time, analyze any trailers, and have it be relevant for an extended period of time. The channel also didn't rapidly grow in the Switch year so to compensate, they just pushed out constant news videos just to up the total views per day.
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I think a lot of nintendo based content creators are having a tough time. They probably get a ton of traffic around direct time, but that’s only twice some times 3 times a year. And Nintendo does not announce things often outside of that. Honestly, basing your entire channel around Nintendo news drops in the hopes of staying profitable just seems like bad business to me.

I’m also at a point where I don’t need someone to regurgitate gaming news to me on a web site or video. I can read about here or watch the trailer directly on the companies YouTube channel, which means that the gamexplains and ign’s of the world who are re-hosting these trailers, aren’t gonna get their ad cut from me. In fact I see more and more people forgoing these channels in favor of just getting info straight from the horses mouth.

In regards to these channels streaming themselves watching the direct, personally that does nothing for me, and I’d rather just watch the direct right from nintendos YouTube page without people screaming “lets goooo!!!” every time something happens. But hey, some people like it, and it probably makes those channels a ton of money, for what is probably minimal work.
 
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I thought he learned. When I watched their final Jake going away video everyone seemed so happy. Jake definitely kept it professional and never gave any vibes off how poor things were behind the scenes.
 
I haven't watched a single Gamexplain video since the original crew left, and I refuse to this day to give the channel any clicks.
Also this doesn't surprise me with how Andre never apologised or reflected on his mistreatment of the old crew. He even went full defensive with an obvious legal message. Screw that guy.

Also, wasn't this Jake guy pretty dismissive about the workplace mistreatment when the news about the original crew became public? I think it was him who went all "doesn't happen to me, it's great here actually!"

Edit: couldn't have been Jake if he wasn't working there around that time. Must be one of the other new hires before him.
 
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I more or less stopped watching Gamexplain after Ash and Derrick left. I liked Tris and then this guy came around and he was such a bright light.

Tbh I'm surprised this is the one who is left cause of being overworked. I've been expecting Tris would be the one cause I got the vibe that they were Derrick's replacement.

Edit: Also Andre clearly hasn't changed. I'm now more convinced that he's faking his hot takes for engagement lmao.
 
Hocot8 said:
I more or less stopped watching Gamexplain after Ash and Derrick left. I liked Tris and then this guy came around and he was such a bright light.

Tbh I'm surprised this is the one who is left cause of being overworked. I've been expecting Tris would be the one cause I got the vibe that they were Derrick's replacement.
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Tris is derricks replacement is how I saw it.
 
Ahmed said:
Also, wasn't this Jake guy pretty dismissive about the workplace mistreatment when the news about the original crew became public? I think it was him who went all "doesn't happen to me, it's great here actually!"
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Don't think so, I only remember the other guy Joey doing that (unless they both did? But I don't remember Jake saying anything of that ilk)
 
HockeyBird said:
Back in the beginning, Gamexplain was a legit great channel. They had in-depth analyses and discussions. The team had chemistry and everyone was knowledgeable about the topics. There was no better channel for Nintendo content at the time. However, Youtube changed the way it let users discover videos. It became more important to put out videos more regularly or else your entire channel could be lost in the algorithm so that's when you started seeing them churn out multiple videos a day.

The hyper analysis format also lost steam. Nintendo games were being announced closer to their release dates so there was just fewer opportunities to take the time, analyze any trailers, and have it be relevant for an extended period of time. The channel also didn't rapidly grow in the Switch year so to compensate, they just pushed out constant news videos just to up the total views per day.
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I never understood why trailer analysis videos on YouTube do so well.

Well, I guess I get it, but I think the people watching them are doing themselves a disservice. If you're already hyped for a game wouldn't it be better to go in blind instead of spoiled? Having every pre-release trailer and material hyperanalyized just feels pointless to me.

I didn't know TOTK had the depths before playing it and it was a great surprise for me.
 
Honestly sounds a bit like a slightly more extreme version of most jobs.

The only reward for being efficient, is often just them dumping more work on you and expecting more of you. For the same pay.
 
Despite what people usually said about the new crew not being so great, I always liked Jake. He didn’t always have the best gaming opinions, but he was pretty funny. Here’s hoping he can land on his feet. Maybe he could even do some work for GVG, assuming there’s no bad blood between him and those folks.

Hope he can land on his feet, also hoping for the best for Tris and the others
 
Hermii said:
Honestly sounds a bit like a slightly more extreme version of most jobs.

The only reward for being efficient, is often just them dumping more work on you and expecting more of you. For the same pay.
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Yep, same here whith my employer. That`s why i´m preparing to leave in a view months, after 20 years of work. I dont give a damn anymore :LOL:
 
Lord Azrael said:
Don't think so, I only remember the other guy Joey doing that (unless they both did? But I don't remember Jake saying anything of that ilk)
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I don't remember who it was, or if it was multiple. But I remember that someone of them was dismissive around that time, and that person can screw themselves as well.

Maybe it was this Joey guy you mentioned, their names are similar so I might have them mixed up.
 
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Ahmed said:
Also, wasn't this Jake guy pretty dismissive about the workplace mistreatment when the news about the original crew became public? I think it was him who went all "doesn't happen to me, it's great here actually!"
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He didn’t work there at the time. He’s one of the newer hires. You could be thinking of Tris or Joey
 
isaacmaltes said:
He didn’t work there at the time. He’s one of the newer hires. You could be thinking of Tris or Joey
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I honestly don't remember the name, just that it was someone who was new at the time the old crew openly talked about their work mistreatment.

I'll edit my post, so that it doesn't look like I'm implying Jake is definitely the one I'm talking about.
 
Hermii said:
Honestly sounds a bit like a slightly more extreme version of most jobs.

The only reward for being efficient, is often just them dumping more work on you and expecting more of you. For the same pay.
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There is a curve to that, there is a while till you reach "effective enough", but if the employer overextends it... Talk to them, if they are not reasonable, then look around at the market, check if you find something else. (Not YOU you, general musing)

I think the difference here, with a job, if I'm at home, I'm at home, while this kind of jobs often don't have a "I'm off the clock" time, meaning it creeps even more in your free time.
 
Ahmed said:
I honestly don't remember the name, just that it was someone who was new at the time the old crew openly talked about their work mistreatment.

I'll edit my post, so that it doesn't look like I'm implying Jake is definitely the one I'm talking about.
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it was Joey.

If i remember the reaction to it originally people felt it was kind of gross to say but also that maybe Andre actually did change how he treated his employees.
 
HockeyBird said:
Back in the beginning, Gamexplain was a legit great channel. They had in-depth analyses and discussions. The team had chemistry and everyone was knowledgeable about the topics. There was no better channel for Nintendo content at the time. However, Youtube changed the way it let users discover videos. It became more important to put out videos more regularly or else your entire channel could be lost in the algorithm so that's when you started seeing them churn out multiple videos a day.

The hyper analysis format also lost steam. Nintendo games were being announced closer to their release dates so there was just fewer opportunities to take the time, analyze any trailers, and have it be relevant for an extended period of time. The channel also didn't rapidly grow in the Switch year so to compensate, they just pushed out constant news videos just to up the total views per day.
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I think a wider discussion needs to happen about how YouTube incentivizes this sort of abusive behaviour. I'm not saying this in any way to absolve Andre, as he is completely responsible for the way he treats his staff and runs the channel, but YouTube as a platform is an unregulated, opaque dystopian hellhole that uses the algorithm as a way to reward this sort of exploitative, abusive behaviour.

I can't think of another media platform that is so reluctant to support it's own creators, provide transparency on how content is marketed and recommended, and is outright hostile to any sort of support programmes or QoL initiatives. Cable TV was hugely exploitative in it's time, but at least networks recognised unions and provided residuals.

It's a race to the bottom, and everyone comes in last place.
 
JazzPotatoes said:
I think a wider discussion needs to happen about how YouTube incentivizes this sort of abusive behaviour. I'm not saying this in any way to absolve Andre, as he is completely responsible for the way he treats his staff and runs the channel, but YouTube as a platform is an unregulated, opaque dystopian hellhole that uses the algorithm as a way to reward this sort of exploitative, abusive behaviour.

I can't think of another media platform that is so reluctant to support it's own creators, provide transparency on how content is marketed and recommended, and is outright hostile to any sort of support programmes or QoL initiatives. Cable TV was hugely exploitative in it's time, but at least networks recognised unions and provided residuals.

It's a race to the bottom, and everyone comes in last place.
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This could be an entirely seperate discussion, but honestly YouTube is complete shit now. It rewards low-effort quick content and “shorts” while keeping long-form thoughtful content hidden in the back.

There are now numerous channels using some form of AI to dish out various clips of streamers saying or doing something “interesting” or “funny” at a factory level pace, and getting tons of money for it in the process. This is because it is what YouTube wants now.
YouTube essentially wants to be TikTok.

Let’s not forget how TIRESOME certain content has become, like popular streamers reacting to a controversy, regurgitating the opinion that almost everyone already has, and the sheep in the comments section praising it as original, thoughtful analyses. MoistCritical, Asmondgold, SomeOrdinaryGamers, etc. it’s all the fucking same.

The truth is , for people who want to find value in the internet, you’re going to have to regress to the way it was before search was invented; stay in your own little focused groups and communities. The wider internet has become a cesspool of lazy content, “cringe” and “based” opinion farming, and anything in between that appeals to low attention spans.

Like I said, easily an entire discussion that could be had on it’s own.

I would not be surprised if this is one of the reasons, perhaps even the main reason, why so many Tubers are quitting these days. It’s not sustainable anymore. Use AI to churn out a sludge of lazy streamer reactions or YouTube doesn’t like you anymore.

Pitiful and sad, capitalism is going absolutely rampant.
 
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