Brian Altano, Seth Macy and Max Scoville are starting an independent podcast network after leaving IGN during the company’s latest round of layoffs and programming changes.
The new venture, independent network of gaming podcasts called X Button, arrives as IGN reduces its commitment to several established gaming podcasts. The shift is part of a broader change in how major games-media businesses fund and produce regular shows.
Altano described the transition in X Button’s first episodes as a move into “the great unknown”, while expressing hope that the new project would succeed.
X Button begins with two shows
The network is hosted on Patreon and currently features two podcasts. X Button is a general gaming programme covering news, new releases and older games, while Ninfriendo 64 focuses on Nintendo.
The team says its coverage will combine experience, humour and enthusiasm, with appearances from games-industry colleagues, developers, voice actors and other guests. Its About page presents the project as a fresh production that retains the familiar personalities listeners already know.
For readers interested in the wider world of games media, RETROCADE’s Arcade Blog follows developments across gaming and the arcade industry.
What happened to the former weekly shows?
Before the layoffs, Altano and Scoville co-hosted IGN’s weekly PlayStation podcast Beyond!. Macy had been a long-running co-host of the Nintendo-focused NVC.
Following the restructuring, Beyond! is on hiatus, while NVC is no longer releasing episodes weekly. The Xbox podcast Unlocked has not published a new episode since October 1. Game Scoop, co-hosted by veteran presenter Daemon Hatfield, is expected to be the only programme from the organisation continuing on a regular schedule.
A source familiar with the discussions said staff were told that the other shows were not producing enough revenue to justify weekly resources. That decision is notable because the organisation was an early adopter of gaming podcasts, while media companies including The Ringer and Vox Media’s Podcast Network are investing more heavily in conversational video.
A familiar path for former games-media staff
X Button follows a growing pattern in which experienced games-media presenters build independent businesses around established audiences. The team’s subscriber appeal says the hosts lost careers they had developed with considerable time, expertise and passion, but received thousands of messages encouraging them to continue.
They now plan to take that community, their industry relationships and their accumulated experience into a member-supported operation. The model is not without precedent: has shown the model can still be lucrative for former games-media staff.
For creators building their own gaming setup alongside independent content, RETROCADE’s Arcade Machine Buying Guide and range of arcade machines offer practical starting points for a home games room.
The network’s inaugural episode provides the first look at how the group intends to turn an unexpected career disruption into a new, independent format.
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