MinnMax Interview - Why Yahtzee And Team Left The Escapist To Form Second Wind (Patreon)

In this MinnMax Interview, Ben Hanson talks to former editor-in-chief from The Escapist Nick Calandra and Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw about leaving the company behind to form a crowd-funded outlet called Second Wind. We talk about the 16-year history of Zero Punctuation at The Escapist and what Yahtzee is planning for Second Wind with his new show Fully Ramblomatic. Nick also talks about rebuilding community trust with The Escapist by launching shows like Cold Take, Adventure is Nigh, and creating documentaries.

Watch and share the video version here - https://youtu.be/zIUZoMngubk

You can check out Second Wind's YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@SecondWindGroup

Or you can check out Second Wind on Patreon here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/welcome-to-wind-92467346

To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below…

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:27 - Second Wind’s successful launch

00:05:35 - Why Yahtzee left The Escapist

00:07:12 - How and why people were let go from The Escapist

00:10:52 - Corporate friction with GAMURS

00:14:24 - Negotiating for the rights to The Escapist content

00:15:19 - The biggest lessons so far with Second Wind’s launch

00:19:39 - Rebuilding the community at The Escapist

00:22:31 - Corporate media pushing for numbers

00:23:52 - The future of games media

00:26:32 - What Yahtzee wants for his next era

00:28:18 - Second Wind and getting into game development

00:29:16 - Accomplishing that a corporation couldn’t

00:34:16 - Second Wind’s lineup of shows

00:36:36 - The strategy for funding Second Wind

00:38:14 - The energy of independence

00:41:01 - How to recruit new generations of talent

00:43:52 - The road ahead for Second Wind

Become a Game Champion by supporting MinnMax at the $50 tier on Patreon and lock in the game of your choice! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

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