What happened to The Dad Gaming?
And what's next...
The Dad and The Dad Gaming no longer have staff and have no plans to post new content. Basically, they are shut down.
I haven’t publicly posted a farewell to The Dad. I don’t have the emotional energy yet. Hopefully I can do it justice soon.
There are a lot of questions about how this could happen, especially from The Dad Gaming community, which has been an active source of discussion and comradery for years.
I want to plainly explain what happened.
A Complete History
While grinding a corporate day job, I was a freelancer for Scary Mommy. Their parent company, Some Spider, wanted to start a dad brand, and asked if I’d be interested in leading it. Would I like my dream job? Yes please. Where do I sign?
I quit my safe corporate job right away to start The Dad.
They gave me creative control of editorial content and socials, and let me recruit my team. Right away, The Dad succeeded beyond our expectations.
I was a salaried employee. I did not OWN the brand. I was Editor in Chief. It was the best of both worlds: I had creative control and a salary. It was like being a startup founder with less risk.
In 2018 I decided to buy my kids a Nintendo Switch to bond with them over video games. I hadn’t owned a console since high school. We loved it. I started playing Fortnite with my son and thought it would be way better to play in private lobbies with people we know. I applied and Epic approved. I posted asking who would want to join and The Dad Gaming was born.
We immediately started a Mario Kart League and weekly Rocket League tourneys. Many talented admins stepped up and the community thrived.
If I asked my Some Spider bosses if I could spend all this time on a new gaming sub-brand they may have said no. So I just did it, as a passion project on nights and weekends, because I loved it.
Still, The Dad Gaming was part of The Dad, which was owned by Some Spider.
In 2021, Some Spider sold all of its parenting brands (The Dad, Scary Mommy, and Fatherly) to Bustle Digital Group, a larger media company.
BDG had more traditional brands, with high end celebrity photo shoots and monthly digital magazines. Was quite the contrast with me running Mario Kart tournaments with NASCAR drivers for charity.
Times were, and continue to be, disastrous for media companies. Shortly after the acquisition I was forced to lay off a large percentage of an already understaffed team. I knew immediately this job was no longer for me. So I began to do everything I could to put pieces in place to try to make The Dad and The Dad Gaming survive as long as possible after I left.
That was two years ago. It’s incredible what Jared Warner, Jordan Stratton, and Reuben Qualls have been able to do with so little. The fact that The Dad survived this long is an absolute credit to them. They’ve done amazing work.
When I heard last week it was being shut down, I wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t unexpected. Though I wish the transition were smoother, especially with The Dad Gaming groups.
What’s next
I made an offer to buy The Dad Gaming. (It doesn’t need to be me who owns it and runs it. I just want SOMEBODY to keep it running.)
I haven’t gotten a response.
Reuben and some other TDG mods have created a new group called Pixel Perfect Parenting. You should definitely join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/841165727569023
https://channel3.gg/p3games
Connecting people through a love of video games remains my life passion. I spend all of my waking hours thinking about it and working on it. I am more energized than ever for the work we are doing on Channel 3.
You should join that too.
I am 100% all in on Channel 3 and its vision. It’s not perfect yet, but I feel the same community energy there as I did in the early days of The Dad Gaming, x 3,000. There’s something magical happening.
Channel 3 will enable success for Pixel Perfect Parenting, just like we did The Dad Gaming, and just like we do other great gaming communities. We’ll host events and leagues, quests and challenges, and continue to maximize social gaming joy, bringing people together over a shared love of video games.
It’s the honor of my life to build The Dad and The Dad Gaming
I have made memories and relationships I will cherish forever. I am grateful to have spent years playing games and connecting people.
No regrets.
Just love.
GGs forever.
