That time has come. For anyone still checking back in hope that AusGamers would start posting regularly again, given we’ve been sporadic and largely dormant these past six or so weeks, we can now reveal that both Kosta and I, the site’s long-time co-managing editors, have made the decision to move on to something new, while Mammoth Media has decided to put the site out to pasture.

The reasons are numerous, but largely we just wanted a new challenge and to have full ownership over our next adventure. This was all amicable with no hard feelings between camps and therefore isn’t tied to the recent spate of site closures or firings or resignations across the gaming media landscape. (Largely because we haven’t been employed with Mammoth these past number of years, running the site in a kind of defacto setup with Mammoth.)

So what’s next for us?



We’re launching a new entertainment platform called 3rd-Phase Boss focusing on Gaming, Tech & Gear and Pop Culture. We’ll also be building out a merch store, working with artists that work in and around gaming and pop culture to produce bespoke ‘Limited Run’-style shirts and prints. The tone of the site will be not all that dissimilar to what we produced here, but it’ll be more expansive and will focus more heavily on the celebration of so-called ‘geek culture’ and will feature a more rounded and dynamic social media presence.

But we want to specify it won’t be AusGamers 2.0 (the Mammoth cats have given us permission to carryover a collection of our work from here, though that will be updated and reformatted for the new digs so as not to ‘copy and paste’, so to speak).

This wasn’t an easy decision. For almost two decades AusGamers and Mammoth Media have been ever-present in my life, and I can’t thank Trog and Term enough for taking a punt on me all those years ago, and my time working alongside Dan and Eorl as well as the rest of the Mammoth Media guys will forever remain one of my most beloved professional jaunts. And then being able to work with one of my best friends in Kosta at this site has been amazing, but together we just felt it was time we owned our own shit. 3rd-Phase Boss is wholly owned by us under our freshly-minted digital publishing and professional writing business, Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd and will launch in early 2024.

Thanks to everyone who followed our words and our stories over the years and thanks to everyone we ever worked with here. You can get in touch with us at our new digs via email and for all enquiries related to AusGamers use the site’s contact form as those still reach Mammoth Media.

Cheers,

Steve and Kosta