“But wait,” you say, “you only just started at IGN! And you’re already leaving!? What kind of stupid shenanigans are you on about?”
Well, it’s true that I came on board with IGN two months ago, when 1UP was shut down. But in a different sense, I came here two years ago when Hearst dumped 1UP and UGO like a bizarre hot potato that they found confusingly incompatible with their stodgy print rubric. And in another sense altogether, I’ve been here since 2003, when 1UP hired me out of obscurity in some dying state across the country — throughout all the mergers and layoffs and closures and other shakeouts, I’ve somehow been in the same hire position for nearly a decade. (And let me tell you, it sucks to give up that kind of corporate seniority. I’ll miss my fat wads of annual earned vacation time, even if I did spend every single vacation over the past decade working.)
So yeah, I’m leaving IGN, and it’s for entirely personal reasons. It’s not because I hate the site or the people I work with or any kind of conflict at all. If I didn’t think IGN as a publication and an entity had merit, I wouldn’t have come aboard in the first place. I knew Ziff-Davis was going to bring the headman’s axe down on 1UP’s neck from a very long way off, and I could very easily put myself within the axe’s arc. (It wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve volunteered for a layoff.) That would have been the smart thing to do in light of the fact that I’m leaving just two months later — I passed up a pretty sweet severance package! — but I really wanted to give it a go here, and I don’t regret staying aboard… even if it didn’t work out quite like I had hoped.
Ultimately, the simple fact is that I find IGN is a little too big for me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a site of its magnitude by any means, but it’s not my ideal environment. Turns out I’m an introvert through and through, personally and professionally. That doesn’t mean I’m shy or scared of public speaking or whatever misconceptions come to mind when you hear the word “introvert” — it means I’m in my element when I’m alone or in a small group. When I’m hanging out with others, I’m perfectly outgoing in a group of three or four. Any larger a group than that, though, and I fade into the background. Apparently the same thing happens at work, and while I suppose that’s always been true, I’ve only now fully come to fully realize it.
Heading up a team of four at 1UP was the greatest professional challenge of my life, but also the most rewarding. After a couple of months at IGN, I’ve come to realize that I simply need to be part of a smaller team structure to properly thrive.
But like I said, I don’t regret for a minute having stuck around to see behind the curtain of how a relatively huge publication like IGN functions — and I use the term “huge” not just to refer to its staff size, but also its scope and reach. (I gotta tell you, it’s pretty damn satisfying to publish a review and know 50,000 people are going to read it.) Every time I see an accusation or supposedly informed claim of IGN’s innate corruption and moneyhats and lol publisher x’s check bounced and they only got a 7.0, I have to roll my eyes, because my role at the company was specifically to serve as the barrier between Sales and Editorial, the guy who ran interference between the two different sides of the company to keep Editorial operating in a sort of vacuum of purity, while giving Sales information and ideas enough about the content plan to allow them to do their job of keeping the company afloat.
Admittedly, it wasn’t really my dream position — serving as the McDLT box of editorial integrity, as it were — but I’m glad I had the chance to see the process in action. I’ve recommended that whoever they hire as my replacement go a step further and take on an ombudsman role to maintain an even more hermetic seal between the two divisions.
So what now? Well, I’m going on my freaking honeymoon. And not only that, but it’s going to be the first true vacation I’ve had in a decade. I’m not taking any work at all with me, because I don’t have any work. Which isn’t to say I won’t have a job waiting for me when I get back, because I absolutely do… but I’ll talk about that later. For today, I’m going to wrap things up at IGN and enjoy the company of the friends I’ve made here for a few last hours. After somehow surviving a decade of layoffs, it’s kind of nice to be able to end my time here on my own terms, because they’re totally amicable. I’m grateful to Tal Blevins and Steve Butts for taking a chance on me, and I feel bad about turning around so quickly and bailing on them, but it’s nothing personal. Or rather, it’s entirely personal: A wholly personal choice about my needs and aspirations, and nothing more than that.
I’m looking forward to my vacation and my new venture, but at the same time I’m also looking forward to seeing where IGN goes from here. These kids got moxie.
This is somehow a great surprise and no surprise at all. Can’t wait to hear what you have next, and I hope it gives you an excuse to visit Japan soon. If nothing else, I look forward to Retronauts!
I understand where you’re coming from, Jeremy. Glad you’re able to leave amicably, and doubly glad you’ve got something lined up. Good luck with everything!
Mr. Parish,
I just wanted to say that it’s been a real pleasure to experience your work over the past 60-some-odd days. Your reviews have been fantastic and dead-on with my thinking. (Soul Hackers, Mystery Dungeon/EOIV, et al.) Hell, I’ve loved your work since the EO essay years back.
I’m obviously devastated that the resident JRPG fanatic/roguelike-fiend/Etrian Odyssey-lover is departing, but I wish you the best in your future endeavors. Please keep us posted on here/Twitter/wherever.
You will be missed.
Enjoy the honeymoon!
Good luck on your new ventures, Jeremy. Also, taking a vacation right before E3 is probably the best time to do so for anyone in this industry. Enjoy it.
A stunner and a complete shock.
I felt like with him at ign, we had a real japanese gamer. Huge loss to ign, wish him well ( we talk sometimes anyway)
he will bounce back
Good luck on whatever comes next! I look forward to seeing what you have lined up.
Thanks for all the years of great content. I’m looking forward to whatever you do next.
I have to say, I’m excited for you! Hopefully you land someplace where your work won’t get lost in the shuffle. I like your blog precisely because it’s focused on the stuff I like from one of my favorite writers in the industry.
The internet really can be great sometimes. Moving to Rev3 has been the best thing to happen to Sessler, IMO (judging by the quality and quantity of his work); I’m guessing this will have a similar impact for you!
Congratulations! I’m glad you’ve got something else lined up already, and I’m glad you’ve been able to both see IGN isn’t the place for you AND get yourself out of there. Inertia is an easy trap to fall into, and I’m glad you’re not.
Best of luck dude! Very much looking forward to Retronauts and whatever else it is that you’ll be up to next.
Congratulations, Mistah J. Enjoy your first vacation in approximately as long as I’ve known you.
Enjoy your well-deserved vacation! It is my hope that you are remaining in the industry- you are one of the best.
Woah. I wasn’t too much into 1up, but I knew your name from reading some of your articles there, and I was enthused knowing you joined the IGN team and was liking your contributions specially to the Nintendo team. Seemed you were one of us introverts in the spotlight. :)
Sad to see you go, but if you weren’t that comfortable, your work at IGN would have eventually suffered, and you wouldn’t feel as well with yourself.
Good luck on your future endeavors!
It’s like I said before; if not for 1UP, and if not for you giving *me* a chance, I would not be writing for a living. I owe you an unspeakable debt. Have fun on your honeymoon, and wherever you wind up, remember that there’s always a perpetually hungry, corgi -shaped freelancer for hire. <3 I EVEN DO WINDOWS. No really I'm good at that shit.
I suppose the best news is: you got something lined up already for when you get back. Verrrrry curious to see what it is.
One thing was clear though: your talents for in-depth analysis of sometimes-unpopular games and genres was not a good fit at IGN, and were sort of wasted on the type of site that specializes in general coverage like that. I personally don’t like IGN, but I’m not bashing them here – just saying that it wasn’t a good fit.
Regardless, again, it’s great news you got something else lined up. Enjoy the honeymoon and a well-deserved vacation. Us Spite regulars will be here waiting for your fashion tips you learned from Spanish culture. And huge blocks of text about Etrian Odyssey.
Best of luck and look forward to whatever you do next.
Enjoy the honeymoon — I should maybe have one of those someday.
Good luck, man. Enjoy your honeymoon — you’ve definitely earned some time off.
It feels weird to congratulate someone for losing a job in this economy but you make it sound almost delightful, so… congratulations!
You’ll be getting a lot of this over the next few days, but I hope you realize that it’s true: You’ve done great work over the years, and the next place is very lucky to have you indeed.
Enjoy the honeymoon and the much deserved time off
I am both proud of you & humbled by you & your resilience. When the time comes that the world doesn’t fit, you roll yourself somewhere else until your edges dull out, your sharp corners tuck in, your flat sides bump up & you eventually become the most perfect size you want to be. And when that happens, the world will fit just right.
I can’t say that I don’t feel bad for the life your leaving behind, but I do feel excited for you. Most people of the unremarkable sort in life never get the chance to grab hold of their life by the reins & steer it at one monumental instant… but you aren’t unremarkable after all.
Thanks for helping me figure out exactly the kind of gamer I always wanted to be, as well as being the kind of honest man I aspire to be. God bless you, Jeremy!
Much like Nadia said, thanks for all of your help– it’s definitely been appreciated, through and through. I’m looking forward to seeing where you end up next, and if you ever need a hand…
For now, though, I hope you enjoy the Honeymoon, it sounds like you’ve earned it! And let us know how it is, Nadia and I should probably take one someday. =)
Congrats Parish, and have fun on your honeymoon as the two of you definitely deserve it.
Oh! People still have honeymoons? That’s great!
Well it’s nice that you get to have one. I hope you can steal some time away from the drudgery of having a good time with people you love to update this site, but I understand how busy living life can get.
Wow. After surviving the layoffs and mergers of the past, I was starting to think that would continue and we’d end up with One Game Site left with only you working there.
Your sentiments are wholly understandable Mr. Parish. It’s always difficult to convey being an introvert when you can be a lively conversationalist. Regardless if your next lined up position is or isn’t solely working on Retronauts it surely will be interesting. Enjoy your Respite.
Damn, I miss the McDLT!
On one hand, I’m convinced that much like how America’s social tolerance only seems to improve as older generations die off and younger generations challenge traditional notions, that one-questionable major media sources would improve only when alternative talent was recognized and promoted into it.
Which is to say, there was a time when I felt IGN sucked, and that was about the same time I learned you write things on the internet. So it’s unfortunate that it was not meant to be.
But, just yesterday I was thinking “would it be neat if Retronauts became big enough to be Jeremy’s whole job?”
Here’s looking forward to supporting whatever crazy thing you go for next.
Ha ha ha, butts.
Have a great honeymoon! and updating the site counts as work!
I visit this site far more often than I ever visited IGN or 1up, so really, nothing’s changing for me. Looking forward to seeing what you’re up to next. Enjoy your vacation and have some fun!
Congrats on finding another job. I hope it’s a better fit for your skills and I hope it lasts an extra extra extra long time.
I hope you have an awesome honeymoon, and that you don’t think for a second about work!!
Congratulations, Jeremy. You’re a fantastic talent and someone whose career I’ve really enjoyed following. Everything is growth, the good and the bad. I’m happy that you were able to close out on your own terms; I couldn’t have seen it going any other way. Looking forward to seeing where you land next!
Congratulations Parish. I look forward to seeing what you get up to next.
Wow, more changes ahoy!
On a serious note, I’d like to wish you both an amazing honeymoon and some much needed rest. Looking forward to seeing what you get up to next!!
I’ve been following this site and your writing for a very long time, and I’m glad that you’re finally able to take a real vacation. Very few things are as nice as getting to really relax after having spent years and years busting your ass. I hope you enjoy your vacation, and come back fresh. I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next!