The Escapist Fires Editor-In-Chief, Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee And Entire Video Team Quit In Protest

Legacy gaming website The Escapist has purportedly lost its entire video team, as well as key talent well-known to the brand for many years, after firing its editor-in-chief and various other employees. Notable among the resignees is the creator of Zero Punctuation a hit YouTube series created by Yahtzee Croshaw, arguably one of The Escapist's leading IPs.

The news broke yesterday afternoon with Editor-In-Chief Nick Calandra making a post on X / Twitter saying, "I was fired from The Escapist today. I have declined my severance pay and will not be signing an NDA."

He continues the thread by saying that he was "let go for "not achieving goals" that were "never properly set out," adding that he and his team have plans to continue working independently.

Other employees who were fired or resigned include contributors KC Nwosu, Will Cruz, Jesse Galena, Darren Mooney, Amy Campbell and Sebastian Ruiz, editors Parkes Harman and Jesse Schwab, and designer JM8.

Well-known creator Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw announced his resignation from The Escapist last night as well, saying that he will no longer be making "Zero Punctuation" videos given that he doesn't own the rights to the show.

Nevertheless, Yahtzee assured his fans that he plans to continue working independently as well.

Zero Punctuation was The Escapist's most popular show, with many replies to Yahtzee's post jokingly asking, "Wait, The Escapist had other stuff?"

Nick Calandra issued a message on the Discord channel shared by Yahtzee, called "Escaped The Escapist," updating fans about the team's future plans following the mass exodus from the website.

Calandra states that Yahtzee and the video team resigned in solidarity with those fired, and assures fans that they plan to continue their work independently.