In the mid-2000s, chatrooms and message boards were quintessential cornerstones of online culture, especially within the world of gaming. GameFAQS, NeoGAF, even seedier joints like 4Chan – all offered a degree of anonymity and the opportunity for likeminded individuals to chat (both abrasively and, uh, non-abrasively) about the subjects they enjoyed. However, in the modern age, and with the advent of such services as Discord and proprietary voice-chat on consoles, the humble internet forum has struggled to maintain relevance; with most falling by the wayside or shifting gears completely. GameFAQS, for example, is now almost exclusively treated as a cheat/guide resource as opposed to a social gathering place, with most of its boards deserted.
The trend continues, then, as it seems the reset button is being pushed on yet another era of internet history. And precisely which era is being reset? The ResetEra… era. Wrap your head around that one.
As Kotaku reports, the ResetEra forums – whose originator, NeoGAF, represented an absolute pillar of the online gaming community – are being sold off by their owner to the tune of $4.5 million. Sure, that might sound like a lot (and I certainly wouldn’t mind that kind of cash showing up under my pillow, ta) but when you compare it to the figure for which Microsoft reportedly schemes to buy Discord, upwards of $10 billion, it becomes clear how far the site’s stock has fallen.
The site “has been sold to a network of Swedish e-sports sites for an eye-popping $4.5 million,” according to the report, and it describes the property as having been conceived “in an attempt to create a space to discuss gaming that would be less toxic and more inclusive,” presumably referring to the 2017 NeoGAF scandal which saw several of its moderators being outed as serial harassers.
“ResetEra.com is another step in our strategy to grow through acquisitions and create more relevant communities with attractive, growing target groups that many companies want to expose themselves to,” Björn Mannerqvist, CEO of the buyer, MOBA Network, said in a press release announcing the sale. MOBA, for the uninitiated, is a collective organisation of forums where players can share strategies for competitive games, so the site should fit in quite snugly with the rest of their lineup, which apparently brings them around $700,000 in ad revenue per annum. Lucky devils.
The ordeal has left longtime users of the site in understandable doubt as to the future of their favourite space – fears which senior user Cerium has sought to abate by stating: “the staff will retain total independence when it comes to moderation and the day-to-day management of the site. That independence will be held as absolutely sacred, in the same way that editorial independence is treated at journalistic publications.” Not that we’d know anything about that, of course.
Whatever things hold for ResetEra, it certainly is another sign of the times. How do you feel about this purchase? Any other forum sites you’d like to see hang on for the foreseeable? Let us know!
Via, Kotaku.
