Easy Allies
Easy allies logo.png
Type of site
Video game journalism, Internet community, comedy
Available inEnglish
Created by
  • Brandon Jones
  • Daniel Bloodworth
  • Kyle Bosman
  • Don Casanova
  • Michael Damiani
  • Bradley Ellis
  • Isla Hinck
  • Michael Huber
  • Ben Moore
Editor
  • Daniel Bloodworth
  • Isla Hinck
URLeasyallies.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional (free)
LaunchedMarch 21, 2016; 6 years ago (2016-03-21)
Current statusActive

Easy Allies (abbreviated as EZA) is an online video game website that includes news coverage, reviews, personality driven gaming videos and short form comedic series, created by a group of former GameTrailers staff. Since acquiring their new studio, the group has been based out of Culver City, California. The website was found to be the 'Most Trusted Publication of 2016' by video game review aggregator OpenCritic.[1]

History

Following the shuttering of GameTrailers by owner Defy Media in February 2016,[2] nine former full-time staff members, including GameTrailers co-founder and primary voice-over Brandon Jones, joined together to launch a new site that would allow the group "to do what we want to do".[3] The new venture, Easy Allies, was launched on March 21, 2016.[4] Operational costs are primarily met through crowdfunding on Patreon, with support from backers reaching $40,000 per month within three months of launch.[5]

All trademarks and copyrights relevant to the GameTrailers brand remained property of Defy Media following GameTrailers' closure.[6] This meant that Easy Allies, though positioning itself as spiritual successor to GameTrailers,[7] was unable to re-use the names of shows established while under the GameTrailers banner. This hurdle was acknowledged by Jones in an interview for Patreon in May 2016, with Jones commenting that their original pitch to backers was "you know the show, we're just going to change the title".[3] The GameTrailers brand and all associated assets were purchased by IGN in May 2016.[6]

In November 2017, several backers pulled their support from Easy Allies following an appearance by Jones on Fireside Chats, a series on YouTube hosted by former IGN journalist Colin Moriarty.[8] Moriarty had faced criticism earlier that year over a post he made on social network Twitter that many had perceived to be sexist.[9]

As of 2018, reaching a set goal of $50,000 per month on the crowdfunding site Patreon, they acquired a studio.[10] Easy Allies moved production to the studio one month later on January 29, 2019.[11][12] In March 2020, Kyle Bosman announced that he would be leaving the company.[13]

On March 21, 2022, the sixth anniversary of Easy Allies' launch, Jones announced he would be retiring from Easy Allies and video game journalism the following May, although he will continue to provide voiceovers for some of their video content.[14][15] The company also stated on Patreon that fellow co-founders Isla Hinck and Daniel Bloodworth had been named co-heads of Easy Allies two months prior to create a more solidified company structure.[16] On June 21, Ben Moore announced his departure from Easy Allies.[17]

Current operations

Easy Allies operates out of California, United States.[18] In addition to publishing video game reviews, Easy Allies has produced (among other things) podcasts focusing on video games and movies, an investigatory series on video game myths, a weekly Dungeons & Dragons role-playing show, and an animated web series starring voice artist Amanda Troop.[19] Easy Allies also regularly livestream video games on Twitch, and has utilised this to solicit donations for charity from their fans, helping raise over $12,000 for The AbleGamers Foundation in July 2018.[20]

Easy Allies has served as a voting jury member for The Game Awards since 2017,[21][22][23] and participated as a judge for the 2018 and 2019 Game Critics Awards.[24][25]

Notable guests

Australian actor Luke Arnold has appeared on Huber Syndrome, a weekly show about video games, movies, television and comic books, to discuss his role as John Silver in American historical adventure television series Black Sails.[26] Arnold later guest starred in the Easy Allies animated series Box Peek.[27] Cory Barlog, director of Santa Monica Studio's video game God of War, appeared on an episode of Spoiler Mode in April 2018 to speak about the then recently released title.[28]

Games of the Year

The list below solely mentions Easy Allies's yearly choices for Best Game of the Year. There are also other multiple categories chosen yearly such as Best World Design, Best Soundtrack, and a unique category called "Best Seven" referring to games that the staff believed didn't live up to expected hype but were good regardless.

Best Game of the Year
Year Game
2016 The Last Guardian
2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018 God of War
2019 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2020 Half-Life: Alyx
2021 Returnal

References

  1. ^ "Most Trusted Publications of 2016". OpenCritic. March 22, 2017. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017.
  2. ^ Campbell, Colin (February 8, 2016). "GameTrailers shuts down after 13-year run". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b MacBride, Ellie (May 10, 2016). "How Easy Allies Became One of the Highest Earning Creators Overnight". Patreon. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Plunkett, Luke (March 21, 2016). "Gametrailers Staff Return With New Site". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  5. ^ Gutelle, Sam (May 25, 2016). "Fund This: Former GameTrailers Gang Hits Patreon To Raise $40K Per Month As "Easy Allies"". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (May 17, 2016). "IGN acquires GameTrailers, will maintain archive of all content (update)". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. ^ de Vries, Jeroen (March 21, 2016). "Oud-GameTrailers-medewerkers gaan verder als Easy Allies dankzij crowdfunding". Tweakers (in Dutch). Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Meekin, Paul (November 23, 2018). "When Patrons Revolt: Easy Allies, Colin Moriarty, and Regressive Politics, Explored". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  9. ^ Parfitt, Ben (2017-03-15). "Moriarty quits Kinda Funny after Twitter joke controversy". MCV. Archived from the original on 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  10. ^ Easy Allies [@EasyAllies] (December 4, 2018). "We Got a Studio! Thank you for all your support!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Easy Allies [@EasyAllies] (December 5, 2018). "[Image reading "New office. New studio. New set. New desk. New lights. New cameras. New steaming room. New couches. New Monopoly board."]" (Tweet). Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Easy Allies [@EasyAllies] (January 29, 2019). "TONIGHT! We're launching the new studio space with a four hour group stream. Come hang with us as we introduce the new home of Easy Allies. See http://easyallies.com for your local times" (Tweet). Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Koepp, Brent (13 March 2020). "Kyle Bosman reveals why he's quitting Easy Allies in shocking statement". Dexerto. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  14. ^ Brandon Jones [@TrailerJones] (March 21, 2022). "Friends, colleagues, allies: I'm retiring. May 1st will be my last day at Easy Allies, and in games. I will continue recording VO and say hello when I'm able. More details in this video, during EZX today, and in the coming weeks. L&R. Thank you, all! ❤️" (Tweet). Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Leo, Jonathan (March 22, 2022). "Game Trailers & Easy Allies Voice To Retire From Games Journalism". Kakuchopurei. Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  16. ^ Easy Allies. "Welcome to Easy Allies Phase Infinity". Patreon. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/EasyAllies/status/1539472106999537664[bare URL]
  18. ^ "About Us". Easy Allies. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  19. ^ Zuniga, Paul (2018-07-27). "Amanda Troop talks Misfits And Monsters and upcoming voice-over roles". Hidden Remote. Archived from the original on 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  20. ^ @AbleGamers (July 27, 2018). "Our sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude goes out to the Easy Allies community and producers. Over $12,000 raised to help people with disabilities will go a long way towards getting out even more grants this year! We can't wait for EZA Game Day 2019!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Voting Jury - The Game Awards". thegameawards.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  22. ^ "Voting Jury 2017 - The Game Awards". thegameawards.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  23. ^ "Voting Jury 2018 - The Game Awards". thegameawards.com. Retrieved February 4, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  24. ^ Khan, Asif (June 28, 2018). "Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2018 Nominees Announced". Shacknews. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  25. ^ "Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2019". www.gamecriticsawards.com. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  26. ^ Arnold, Luke [@LongLukeArnold] (April 14, 2017). "The @EasyAllies fun continues! Thanks @MichaelPHuber and @bradleyellis87 for bringing the #BlackSails hype. Great chat. Full spoilers" (Tweet). Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Bosman, Kyle (director) (November 22, 2019). Box Peek Ep. 8 - A Gust of Win! (YouTube video). Easy Allies. Event occurs at 8:58. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  28. ^ Easy Allies [@EasyAllies] (April 20, 2018). "It's happening #GodOfWar Spoiler Mode with @corybarlog from @SonySantaMonica Keep an eye out for it early next week" (Tweet). Retrieved February 4, 2019 – via Twitter.

External links

Video game journalism
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