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Former GameXplain members talk about troubles with the company (heavy crunch, low pay) [Update: André Response]
- Thread starter Magic-Man
- Start date
Just to be absolutely clear, I am *not* suggesting that folks harass Andre.
Yeah, wasn't trying to accuse of that, sorry if it came off that way. Was more trying to suggest that while I think going to certain lengths is inappropriate, I definitely think it needs to be made clear that this isn't ok through actions
Manipulating big fans of yours with low pay and a carrot that they may become one of the full time members and then moving the goalposts, for me, shows that Andre wasn't just a terrible boss making mistakes. Sounds like it was all well thought out on his end.
We're about 5 statements away from finding out he steals candy from babies and kicks puppies.
Or they are just decent folk willing to tell their side of the story without wishing harassment on another person.
Don't need to make it a bigger deal of it, just shows what kind of people they are and that they are being transparent now not for the sake of people harassing GX or Andre....but for answering questions the audience have.
In the end all of us can do what we want with the information we obtain from this thread but the ex-staff has made their own intentions clear.
I will say I've had to sign a non-compete clause at every FT gaming journalism site I've worked, but they're non-binding in California so I kinda just...didn't care and didn't abide by it.
he sure seems to love tweeting about political stuff often and bitching about corrupt politicians, when ironically, he ended up being just as bad as the folk he hates. Absolutely disgusting he hasn't made a statement on this yet or tried to remedy this in any way, and only just made it worse with the reddit removals.
Or answer why the GX Patreon isn't disclosing the amount they make. I'm almost certain the reason the number is withheld is to prevent people from realizing just how much he made that could have gone to the staff.
Really worry about Tris and the remaining members. I think even if Andre changes his tune and ups their pay they'll likely quit due to the fact that the channel will implode over this: views tanked in recent months due to Ash and Co leaving, so GX's bad rep won't help them either
The statements are just heartbreaking to read. I truly hope for the best for crew that has parted ways from GX, but also to the staff that is currently Andre's employees.
Personally I'm not going to be watching videos from GX anymore, I just can't support someone like that.
Personally I'm not going to be watching videos from GX anymore, I just can't support someone like that.
I have to admit I did not know who Brandon was until he started appearing on GVG, so yeah, I think he wasn't being credited properly before. I'm wishing the best for him going forward. I gave him a follow on Twitter, I really enjoyed his appearances on GVG and hope to see more of him!
With every story that we receive, the more it becomes clear that this is no mistake. This is a pattern of explicit exploitation, and cruelty. Andre is trying to make everyone who contributes to gamexplain, throw them into financial dissaray, and make them miserable. The amount of work he has done, doesn't simply add up, and he actively makes his employees jobs harder.
This is explicit, cruel, and intentional exploitation.
This is explicit, cruel, and intentional exploitation.
I feel like shit. This can't be real. Damn, I used to watch every analysis and discussion religiously.
What does GVG Help the best? Watching their videos more often? Sharing them? Commenting on them? Or all of the above?
What does GVG Help the best? Watching their videos more often? Sharing them? Commenting on them? Or all of the above?
Yes yes yes. And subbing to their Patreon. That is seemingly where they get most of their revenue. So yeah.
What's sad is that for a while I didn't even know who he was and when I wasn't able to do the video editing for a script I wrote, André didn't even tell me that he was the one who was working on it. I had to find out in the description box after the video went live (thanks to Steve for making sure he eventually got credited).
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Yikes. Each updates just makes this look worse and worse. All of this certainly demands some type of accountability from Andre.
I worry for the newer GameExplain crew members. They're not in great spots right now.
I worry for the newer GameExplain crew members. They're not in great spots right now.
Some really shitty practices there like no set hours for full time staff and lowballing freelance workers. Basically sounds like people were overworked and underpaid across the board
I would understand the request for using the GX twitch account for streaming if it was on the company's time, but if there are no set work hours, that is some bullshit.
I would understand the request for using the GX twitch account for streaming if it was on the company's time, but if there are no set work hours, that is some bullshit.
Jesus, that statement from Derrick is heartbreaking to read.I'm honestly lost for words. Derrick put in so much work and got treated like absolute crap. Disgraceful.
The phone story is just the Cherry on this shit sundae. Andre sounds like a horrible person that doesn't represent any of the liberal values he so likes to tout on Twitter.
The phone story is just the Cherry on this shit sundae. Andre sounds like a horrible person that doesn't represent any of the liberal values he so likes to tout on Twitter.
Such a Watergate situation where the cover up results in a much bigger blow up and investigation. Because the way the Steve, Derrick and co. phrased it during the GVG episode ...while factual was still somewhat harmless and didn't put Andre in that bad of a light. Only once Andre went ahead and started deleting the reddit posts shit got real. So yeah these are all consequences of his own actions that could have been prevented if he just owned up to his questionable behavior.
Karma.
You can see that the ex-staff really didn't wanna have to expose him like that but in th end they are talking about their own situation and he hasnt been forthcoming with his stance.
Karma.
You can see that the ex-staff really didn't wanna have to expose him like that but in th end they are talking about their own situation and he hasnt been forthcoming with his stance.
GameXplain's twitter activity has slowed considerably since this thread went up and today is going to be the first day (including Xmas!) since I don't know when that there hasn't been a tweet. Maybe a coincidence.
If there's one outcome from all of this, I hope it's that current staff gets promised better conditions and pay. By all accounts it sounds like that should be possible given how popular and profitable GX is.
If there's one outcome from all of this, I hope it's that current staff gets promised better conditions and pay. By all accounts it sounds like that should be possible given how popular and profitable GX is.
I was really bummed when Jon said he wanted to leave, really felt like they made the ultimate group of people discussing games all together. So when almost all of them decided to leave it was clear something was definitely wrong at GX.
With all due respect to the new members, I just haven't been tuning in as much anymore. Just feels like I'm watching a different channel. Such a shame things turned out to be this way from behind the scenes.
With all due respect to the new members, I just haven't been tuning in as much anymore. Just feels like I'm watching a different channel. Such a shame things turned out to be this way from behind the scenes.
Andre sounds like a petty manipulative asshole. I can't believe it's even worse than we imagined
i really should have known. I had a bad gut feeling a while back, but didn't want to believe it. I had a really bad feeling after everyone left but decided to still keep an eye on it. I was so wrong, and this is despicable. What a hypocrite. What a manipulative, lying, greedy man. He needs to learn how truly be selfless
That dislike ratio thoughSeems like people are catching up with recent news
I hadn't been watching GX for some time anyway, but...yeah after reading about all of this I unsubscribed. Hadn't heard of GVG but checking out a few of their videos I subscribed. You guys deserve a lot of success. Sorry about what you had to endure. I'll definitely be a regular viewer from now on.
OP
OP
People loved the old crew. Now that it's known exactly why they left, they are pissed.Seems like people are catching up with recent news
No response this whole time says a lot about Andre to me, considering how quick to the jump he normally is to shit talk about other people caught doing wrong. Gonna actively avoid GX videos from now on tbh.
I was one of the very first subscribers to GameXplain back in the days of the Wii but I've now unsubscribed. I'm completely disgusted having read those last two statements. I was angry with what I'd heard before but now things have been pushed over the line. Absolutely unacceptable behaviour from Andre and towards some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Pretty ironic how much how much Andre egg'd on Donald Trump when it turns out Andre is the Donald Trump of YouTube.
I used to enjoy GameXplain and listened to their podcast weekly, but gradually growing away from most things Nintendo I stopped.
One thing that always irked me was when Andre was on the podcast. You could tell by his tone he'd rather be anywhere else. He wasn't even a regular. I thought maybe he was just busy, but going by what we've seen it looks like he was doing the least amount of work.
Its pretty sad when he can't even give the podcast of his company an hour of his time without sounding miserable when Derrick and the team were probably working all night and still brought the enthusiasm. He always used to brag about how hard he worked on the occasional video he did where as his team did that day in and day out.
I just don't understand how he could pocket so much money and pay so little and still act like their all best mates on the discussion videos. Man needs to learn some respect but hopefully we'll hear his side of the story soon and an apology.
One thing that always irked me was when Andre was on the podcast. You could tell by his tone he'd rather be anywhere else. He wasn't even a regular. I thought maybe he was just busy, but going by what we've seen it looks like he was doing the least amount of work.
Its pretty sad when he can't even give the podcast of his company an hour of his time without sounding miserable when Derrick and the team were probably working all night and still brought the enthusiasm. He always used to brag about how hard he worked on the occasional video he did where as his team did that day in and day out.
I just don't understand how he could pocket so much money and pay so little and still act like their all best mates on the discussion videos. Man needs to learn some respect but hopefully we'll hear his side of the story soon and an apology.
Wow, Derrick and Brandon's statements hit pretty hard. It really feels like Andre was trying to keep people on board by the stick rather than the carrot (which thankfully backfired).
Though I know the point of this wasn't a boycott or anything, I can't really stay subscribed to GX after reading all this either.
I've not listened to their videos for a while, but by the sound of it most of the people I enjoyed following most on there are gone anyway.
On the positive end of things, I now know what Good Vibes Gaming is and finally understand why I was subscribed to it.
Though I know the point of this wasn't a boycott or anything, I can't really stay subscribed to GX after reading all this either.
I've not listened to their videos for a while, but by the sound of it most of the people I enjoyed following most on there are gone anyway.
On the positive end of things, I now know what Good Vibes Gaming is and finally understand why I was subscribed to it.
Wait, really? My former employer had me work on various contract gigs and one time I flippantly brought up the possibility of working there full time if they offered me a better contract and my boss immediately said he'd take legal action because that would contradict our non-compete contract.
lol maybe. he only gets one shot at this so it's probably best not to respond when your mind is going crazy. i dont follow gamexplain but im curious if andre will pull an evilore.
This is honestly so painful to read. A huge shoutout to Steve, Jon, Ash, Derrick, Brainchild and Brandon for coming out and sharing their stories about their experience with Gamexplain. Ive been following GX since 2012 when the Wii U was 're-revealed'. I loved their content ever since, especially their ridiculously long discussion videos, they helped me get through some very tough times. Getting a better understanding of how things were going behind the curtain and how toxic and exploitative it could be really breaks my heart. I am just very happy at least they got out and built something new, GVG, and seem so much happier. I will support GVG as much as I can.
Btw could someone link me where Derrick does his streams?
Btw could someone link me where Derrick does his streams?
I would double unsub from GX if I could. Those statements just hurt to read. Andre has a lot of explaining to do.
Seriously hope he doesn't do a Filip Miucin style "apology".
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Hey now, if that were the case it'd have been out already.
Deleted post. It seems I didn't word it properly and thus I refrain from discussing on this topic any further.
Small disclaimer: Crunching is bad and what happened at GX is terrible.
Small disclaimer: Crunching is bad and what happened at GX is terrible.
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Your wording is absolutely terrible and is clearly making it sound as if you think Andre is a victim. Bringing up 'cancel culture', how he's 'backed into a corner' etc. Pretty disgraceful post tbh.
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