Thanks for sticking with us.

It’s hard to believe, but Skybox is a year old today. When we launched, I intended to write a post about what we wanted Skybox to be. Unfortunately, the industry had other plans. Fandom shuttered Giant Bomb and Polygon was sold to Valnet, and I couldn’t ignore that while writing about the launch of our own independent outlet. 

Today, I wanted to write about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. But I can’t do that without talking about what we’ve lost. This time, the axe has come for Paste Games. Several of the best and brightest, including editor Garrett Martin and associate editor Elijah Gonzalez as well as several brilliant regular contributors, are now out of a job. I have worked with many of the folks affected, and I consider most of them my friends. Lucas and I just saw Eli at PAX East; it’s hard to believe.

Before I get into what’s going on at Skybox, I want to pour one out for Paste. I never wrote there (Ed. note: I did, though! – Lucas), though Garrett and I have talked about pitches in the past and he’s always been supportive of my work. I am one of the few games writers who didn’t get my start at Paste. My path was weird; I have no background or training in journalism. Posting about games on the GameSpot forums for fun led to a gig at an outlet out of India which eventually, after years of learning to do the work, led to pitching (and placing) a piece at Into the Spine, and then (through chance and the magic of fighting games) at IGN and several other places. The rest is history. But it’s telling that I’m the outlier here. Damn near every writer worth a damn in the space was shaped by Paste, and by Garrett Martin, in some form or fashion. It was a place I read avidly, with writers I admired, and somewhere I always hoped my own work might end up someday. It’s fun to share a byline with people whose work has inspired yours and who you deeply respect, especially when that place nurtured so many voices that defined what we do. 

That opportunity is gone now. Watching Paste’s games vertical close its virtual doors is like watching a historic theater demolished, knowing one more home for good work is closed forever. I’m tired of watching good people lose their jobs. And it’s changed the way I’m writing about Skybox today. Somehow, it feels more important, in that context, to get it right. I’m happy to announce Skybox has commissioned two former Paste writers today. It’s not much. Not yet. But we’re all we have, and this feels like a good start.

The last year has been a blur, but I’m proud of what Skybox has accomplished. We’ve published some of the best writers in the space and created a place for up-and-comers to cut their teeth. We’ve established three regular columns. We’ve run personal essays, critique, and broken down the history of roleplaying in games. We’ve written about prestige TV and why you should be watching Xena and being trapped in the closet and trying to be better people in a world that just wants you to consume whatever’s placed in front of you before moving onto the next meal. We’ve told you why AI could never. We’ve got an incredibly diverse lineup of four podcasts that cover evergreen topics, deep dives (including what I think is the definitive work on Xenogears), on-on-one writer interviews about the pieces we publish, and the late night “anything goes” show. We’ve made our mistakes (and several of them are on me), but I think we’ve been true to the idea Skybox was founded on: to be a home for good work as long as there’s good work to do and good people to do it. I’m incredibly proud of our writers and the community we’ve built. We’ve given people opportunities. We’ve made a place people want to be and paid them fairly for their work, even if that means paying them out of my own pocket when our Patreon falls short. And that feels good.

Truth be told, I always feel like we aren’t doing enough. Like I’m not doing enough. Being a full-time freelancer and consultant is exhausting, but I’m more fortunate than most people in the space. That means less time for Skybox than I’d like. But then I remember that we’ve published 122 articles and 59 podcasts in a year. Not bad for a reader-supported, all-volunteer editorial outfit. Oh, and we were a judge at The Indie Game Awards. That’s neat.

But there’s so much more to do. Here’s some of what we’re hoping to accomplish this year:

• Implement more Patreon rewards
• Get another column going from a new contributor
• Nail down a more regular update schedule
• Migrate to Ghost
• Publish more new writers and old friends
• Deliver more themed weeks
• Collaborate with more independent websites
• More writing from me (and maybe Lucas and Brian, too)

And that’s just the start. If you’ve been supporting us, thank you. None of this – none of it – would be possible without you. If you’re looking to start, there’s never been a better time. Even $1 a month makes a difference.

It’s easy, with the industry the way it is, to despair. I don’t know what the future holds. But I do know that we’ll be here, doing this, as long as we can. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can build something better. And if we’re lucky, maybe we can carry a little of Paste’s spirit with us, and pave the road for the folks who’ll follow. 

Thanks for celebrating one year with us. Here’s to many more. We’ll see you under that boundless blue sky.

Will Borger – Co-founder, Editor-in-Chief

Brian Barnett – Co-founder, Editor-at-Large

Lucas White – Co-founder, Managing Editor