Editor's blog: I'm leaving Eurogamer at the end of the year

On 1st January 2008, I made a New Year's resolution. I was a freelance video games journalist at the time, and though I was really enjoying myself, it wasn't quite working out financially. I decided to give myself six months to try to make it work, after which I'd have to have a think about what to do next with my life.

On 2nd January 2008, my friend Ellie Gibson emailed me and asked if I would be interested in applying for a job at Eurogamer. Exactly one month later, I was on the team. I remember thinking I should make life-changing New Year's resolutions more often.

I was quick to respond to Ellie's invitation. Eight years old at the time, the site had a fast-growing reputation for honesty, independence and quality, and was attracting great writers. It felt like somewhere I could make my home. Reader: I did, as you can tell from the fact I'm still here, just shy of 14 years later.

In that time I've had many incredible adventures and worked with some of the funniest, smartest and most loyal people you could hope to meet. Until it was sold a few years ago, Eurogamer and the company that grew around it was a family business, and it remains an intensely familial tribe to this day, bonded by friendship and a strong sense of common purpose. I am acutely aware that not everyone gets to work in an atmosphere like this or with a team like this; it has been a privilege and a joy, the greatest of my professional life.

But you know what they say about all good things. After seven years at the helm of Eurogamer - including celebrating the site's 20th anniversary - I've decided it's time for a change and for a fresh challenge. I'll be leaving Eurogamer at the end of the year. This is by such a large distance the best place I've ever worked and best job I've ever had - not to mention the longest - I'm struggling to imagine what it's going to be like when I start my new life in the new year. But that's what's exciting about it!

Of course, I couldn't be leaving Eurogamer in safer hands, and I'm pleased and proud to be able to tell you the shape the team is going to take from now on.

Wesley Yin-Poole steps up to the role of Deputy Editorial Director. He'll be overseeing Eurogamer and Digital Foundry, as I currently do, but also helping to shape the future of games journalism as it's represented by all the sites in our Reedpop family. Wes is a journalist of great skill and integrity and a wonderful mentor, so I expect he'll have a huge impact. I'm sure he'll still find the time to write here occasionally, too.

Martin Robinson is the new Editor-in-Chief of Eurogamer, running the site and also working with the video team on our YouTube channel. Martin is the most passionate and knowledgeable games journalist I know, blessed with both impeccable taste and insatiable curiosity - this man really loves games. You couldn't ask for a better advocate for this medium.

Assisting Martin in running the site are Tom Phillips, as the new Deputy Editor, and Matthew Reynolds, in the new role of Managing Editor. Tom's level head and healthy scepticism and Matt's formidable organisational skills will help the team cut through to the issues that really matter, and make the most of their access and time to bring you the best video game coverage anywhere.

I'm delighted to announce that Chris Tapsell is our new reviews editor, picking up that brief from Martin. He's a brilliant critic, so there could be no-one better to take Eurogamer reviews to the next level.

Finally, I'm also delighted to announce that Lottie Lynn is promoted to senior guides writer. Since joining in June 2019 Lottie has become an integral part of the guides team, as well as one of our very best writers full stop.

Along with Donlan, Bertie, Matt Wales, new hire Ed, Aoife, Ian and Zoe on the video team, and of course the Digital Foundry crew of Rich, John, Alex, Tom and Will, this is a formidable team. I can't wait to become a regular Eurogamer reader again, to see what this lot can achieve together and to be surprised and delighted every time I visit the site.

I'd like to thank all of them for being the best colleagues you could wish for, along with Simon Maxwell and Jon Hicks for leading us, Craig Munro and the tech team for keeping us online, and Dan Robinson and the sales team for getting us paid for our silly jobs. There are too many colleagues and former colleagues that have made this such a special place to work to mention them all, but I would be remiss if I didn't shout out Johnny Chiodini, Chris Bratt, John Bedford, Emma Kent, Fred Dutton, Mark Kennedy, David Lilley and Tom Champion. Above all, thanks to Ellie and my predecessor Tom Bramwell for bringing me in and being my partners in crime for those first few glorious years, and to Rupert Loman for building it all.

And thanks, of course, to you, for reading. Without you it would all be meaningless, and the time and support you devote to Eurogamer is humbling for all of us. I have tried to make this an inclusive, curious, open-minded and exciting place to share the passion and wonder we all feel for video games. Thanks for coming with me on this journey.

Martin Robinson writes: I'm not sure where to start, really, beyond simply saying thank you, Oli. Thanks for being one of the smartest, most insightful and grown-up writers on video games I've ever read (and also inarguably the smartest dressed - this man's wardrobe is an absolute carnival of tasteful delights). Thanks for making this one of the smartest, insightful and grown-up websites about video games. And thanks for letting me be a part of that, and for making this the most fun, challenging and rewarding place I've ever worked. It has been an absolute blast.

Thanks also for prodding me to apply to the features editor job all those years ago, back when I was the scruffy kid who wrote about racing games for IGN. I'd only been reading Eurogamer for a couple of years back then - I'd clicked on the homepage a couple of times before at the recommendation of a friend, but could never get over the silly name - and had quickly become one of the site's biggest fans. There was a depth to the coverage I hadn't seen elsewhere, matched with a maturity and, most importantly, a sense of fun. I couldn't quite believe my luck when I got the job - all these years later, I can't quite believe my luck that I got to spend a decade working alongside you and learning more about it all.

And now, all these years later, I can't quite believe I'm about to assume your mantle and take responsibility for a site I love as much now as I've ever done. Yes, I still think the name's a bit silly, but after over two decades we're probably stuck with it now - just as we've held on to those same values, that same passion for the wonderful all-encompassing world of video games, the same willingness to ask difficult questions and shed light on important issues and the same desire to celebrate this most magnificent, multi-faceted and ever-changing medium.

I look at the team around me - the team which you helped assemble - and think we're better equipped to do this than ever before. There aren't many sites with as rich a history as Eurogamer, and you've been such a key part of that. Thanks to all your hard work, and making sure we never strayed from those values, there aren't many sites with as promising a future too.