Dom Peppiatt is the new editor-in-chief of VG247

You know the Malcom Gladwell quote about needing to do something for 10,000 hours to master it? Well, I have made over 1000 items for VG247, does that mean I can master it now?

That is an absurd amount of articles. I’ll probably write less now (I’ve heard that editors-in-chief do nothing but sit in meetings talking about organic traffic and crying over Google’s latest core update). But spending my time in the trenches has taught me a lot about this website, its audience, and its team.

And it’s a good place. With a good spirit and an even better work ethic. I had never worked with such an enthusiastic, lively and rushed group. We’ve got a watchful and careful backbone, Steph, on the news. We’ve got the handcrafted SEO magic of James and the sharp, adaptable eye of Kelsey at Guides. We have Connor, with his boots on the ground and his nose in a story that no one else has come up with yet. We have Jim calling someone a jester and writing funnier jokes than anyone else I know could hope to write. We get Alex’s seasoned, sardonic voice on… well, anything, really. And Tom is probably playing Football Manager, somewhere.

One of my favorite pieces of writing I’ve written for this website was on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, about how Mary DeMarle, Eidos Montreal’s Executive Narrative Director, selected and encouraged her team with honesty, vulnerability, and (most importantly) beer. free. . That vibe, that camaraderie… it was a fitting backdrop for a story about a bunch of scoundrels jokingly making their way through space in the face of uncertainty and an ever-changing world around them.

That culture that DeMarle helped embed in Eidos, that’s the kind of environment I want to continue to cultivate at VG247: irreverent, carefree, knowledgeable, fearless. Your partner in the pub who has all the gossip about the latest games. That’s the direction I’ve been giving freelancers when we’ve been working on proposals. My friends have called me ‘Labrador’, and I’m pretty sure they mean it as a compliment; big, goofy, serious, enthusiastic energy. There is a space for that in the industry.

With the great team here, and more fresh blood on the way, I think VG247 can continue to offer something unique in an industry that deserves to be celebrated and exalt the work of developers who dedicate their lives to creating games that should be fun, enjoyable, and fun. unforgettable. If you don’t already know, this is an inclusive site with inclusive values: equality and intersectionality are core to who I am and what this team strives for.

I want to nurture the talent we have here and amplify the talent in the industry around us. I want to offer enthusiastic and charismatic gaming coverage. I want the warmth of a Labrador with the tenacity of a terrier.

Tom set us on a great path in the last few years, and I look forward to seeing what’s further along that path in the years to come. Even if it means writing another 1000 articles, eventually.