"Launched in 2015 by Dave Nemetz, who previously co-founded Bleacher Report, Inverse began life primarily as a tech and science website before later pivoting to entertainment and gaming. It will seemingly now only cover movies and TV as the gaming side of its masthead has been wiped out. Several staff, including Liao, shared the news on Bluesky. "After flying back from Vegas last week, I was just laid off from Inverse today," she wrote."
"CEO Bryan Goldberg, who also co-founded Bleacher Report, then announced in May that profits were soaring and the company's cost-cutting era was behind it. By the fall, however, he was pitching the investor world on a new pivot. "We are the next generation influence company," Goldberg last October. The idea was to turn style and clothing audience members into cash-generating influencers by giving them special access to brands. The whole thing still sounds really weird, but apparently 12,000 people applied."
Inverse shut down its gaming section and laid off four staff members, including Deputy Editor Shannon Liao. The site will now seemingly focus on movies and TV after removing gaming from its masthead. Several staff shared the layoffs on Bluesky and described losing their jobs and needing time to process. Bustle Digital Group purchased Inverse in 2019 and has pursued cost cutting and strategic shifts over the past year. CEO Bryan Goldberg promoted a pivot toward becoming an 'influence company' to turn audience members into unpaid brand-facing influencers. The influencer network idea drew about 12,000 applicants.
Read at Kotaku
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