It Tolls for Thee: A Eulogy for Dicebreaker

"No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminished me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to now

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee."

    -John Donne

Word broke last week (12/06/24) that popular table top news site, Dicebreaker, has been effectively closed down after 5 years, following redundancy announcements of all key staff:

Matt Jarvis - Editor in Chief

Alex Meehan - Senior Staff Writer

Michael "Wheels" Wheelan - Head of Video

It is understood at the time of writing that Olivia Kennedy and Maddie Cullen, both members of the Dicebreaker video team, have secured positions elsewhere in the organisation.

After a weekend of preparing for, exhibiting at, and participating in the fantastic Medway Gaming Festival, hearing of this news was a real blow.

This move comes on the back of IGN Entertainment acquiring the website portfolio of UK publisher Gamer Network, which operated Eurogamer, Dicebreaker, and other popular gaming news outlets. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but clues of IGN's intentions were present when Dicebreaker's popular London TTRPG networking event, which formed part of MCM London, was cancelled last month with only a few days notice. This, coupled with the sudden lack of content from both the Dicebreaker website and YouTube channel, both of which could be relied on for new postings every 2-3 days, encouraged speculation that table-top gaming was set to lose a vital news outlet.

It should be noted that UK-based events EGX, MCM, and the digital brand Pop-Verse, were not included in the sale.

Sadly, it appears that the sparse information released from IGN or Gamer Network to fans of the site was mirrored with an almost complete lack of communication with the Dicebreaker team. Mike Didymus-True, writing for BoardGameWire, reported that communication from both former and new owners of the site with those facing redundancy was "extremely minimal". Furthermore, no public statements about the redundancy's or site's future have been made since the takeover.

Original Dicebreaker Line-Up. From Left: Michael Wheelan, Alex Meehan, Alex Lolies, Johnny Chiodini, Sara Elsam, Matt Jarvis.

It is upsetting to hear about the poor treatment of workers in any industry and the lack of respect given to creators by the corporations that buy and sell their work. It is also noteworthy as another possible example of games media suffering upheaval in the wake of the rising tide of the use of AI in journalism. 

While I am sure this acquisition will benefit the pockets of shareholders and CEOs, I can say with some certainty that the table-top industry will be all the less for it. Dicrebeaker was known for regularly providing articles that went beyond simple press-releases and new game reviews. Their staff and contributing writers have been instrumental in providing insight into the industry, such as an exposes of toxic workplace culture at high-profile publishers, industry lay-offs, and controversies such as the D&D OGL update early last year.

Dicebreaker was launched as a YouTube channel in 2020 by veteran games journalist, Johnny Chiodini (who left the organisation 3 years ago to pursue their own career), during a turbulent period in global history when many people found themselves stuck indoors (thanks, Covid) and turning to the rising popularity of table-top gaming. Speaking from personal experience, Dicebreaker provided a fantastic entryway into the hobby and provided trustworthy, high-quality journalism and reviews, without which I may have struggles to find my way into the hobby and community that I adore. I am certain that this will be an experience shared by many others and that there will now be a vacuum in desperate need of filling, not just on an industry-scale, but more specifically within the UK, which often suffers with a lack of reliable communication on a national level.

So with sadness that we say goodbye to Dicebreaker as we know it and the valuable contribution that they made to the industry for creators and audiences alike. It will be interesting to see if, how, and when the void that is left will be filled.