The Inverse gaming part is useless. Three employees, together with Deputy Editor Shannon Liao, have been laid off from the web site on Friday because it reportedly “divests from gaming.” It’s a shift that comes as proprietor Bustle Digital Group pivots to being an “influencer company,” no matter that’s.
Launched in 2015 by Dave Nemetz, who beforehand co-founded Bleacher Report, Inverse started life primarily as a tech and science web site earlier than later pivoting to leisure and gaming. It is going to seemingly now solely cowl films and TV because the gaming aspect of its masthead has been worn out. A number of employees, together with Liao, shared the information on Bluesky.
“After flying back from Vegas last week, I was just laid off from Inverse today,” she wrote. “Inverse‘s gaming section is being shut down as the company ‘divests’ from gaming content. I’m out of a job along with my wonderful co-writers,” wrote staffer Hayes Madsen. “I’ve put my heart and soul into this job for four years. Gonna need to take time to process…”
Kotaku understands that recreation part staffer Trone Dowd is being saved on, however it’s unclear in what function transferring ahead or if it is going to be in any respect concerned in protecting video games.
Bustle Digital Group, which bought Inverse in 2019, has been on a rollercoaster journey over the past 12 months. Final February, it was being sued for $3 million it allegedly owed in again lease. CEO Bryan Goldberg, who additionally co-founded Bleacher Report, then announced in May that earnings have been hovering and the corporate’s cost-cutting period was behind it.
By the autumn, nonetheless, he was pitching the investor world on a brand new pivot. “We are the next generation influence company,” Goldberg told Axios final October. The thought was to show model and clothes viewers members into cash-generating influencers by giving them particular entry to manufacturers. The entire thing nonetheless sounds actually bizarre, however apparently 12,000 folks utilized. It’s mainly the unpaid blogger community that Bleacher Report pioneered, however for Instagram.
Replace: 1/16/2026 1:09 p.m. ET: Clarified that considered one of Inverse Gaming’s employees members stays on the firm.
