Today is my one year anniversary at IGN! Here’s a little thread about it.

I still remember standing outside the post office (during a run) and checking my phone to see that Sam had emailed me back saying he wanted to give me a shot at doing a guide. That game was Deltarune. I was so excited I immediately called my brother to tell him the good news.

This was back in October 2018. I never thought it’d lead to a full-time job but I also knew that it technically could so I had to bring it (which is how I saw every big opp I had). I needed to do a page comparing it to Undertale so I spent a whole day playing it for the 1st time.

One time (before all this) I said “the only thing I’d never do is guides.” I didn’t think I was good enough at games to write guides. Some days I still feel insecure about my abilities as a player. One of my biggest pieces of advice is to try everything.

Last pre-IGN thing I want to say are here are some posts I did leading up to finding out if I had the job. I was so broke and tired and stressed. I always talk about my time freelancing as “working the hardest I ever have for the least amount of money I’ve ever made.”

Anyway! During this first year I’ve gotten to be on many of our shows including all our main podcasts! The first time I recorded we were in what people thought was a closet until our new fancy studios were done.

I wanted my coworkers to know me for me and my work so I never acted like a fan but I absolutely was one. These people were legends in my eyes. I am still impressed by their talent and am so happy to get to work and grow alongside them.

I share these photos all the time lol but I was thrilled to attend my first E3 ever with IGN. I got to do a lot of previews, interviews, news, and even got to appear on our Live Show.

This is all getting “out of chronological order” but going through the highlights: I got to judge indie games at MoMoCon and got to interview Masuda and Ohmori. It felt great to get to do such high profile stuff this early into my (IGN) career.

Holidays at IGN are pretty fun and then we do this yanky swap thing and there’s food and drinks and I ended up with this bear Dan tried to steal from me.

I’ve gotten to do some IGN Now videos and charity livestreams too! I really like that I get to do more than just guides despite it being my primary role.

I’ve learned (and keep learning) so much from my amazing team. Thank you for all the help and collaboration and various shenanigans.

My proudest achievements so far was working with over a dozens folks to chip in to buy big sheep. This is the best thing Casey and I have collaborated on (next to Days Gone, Sword and Shield, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and more). One day we will work on a small game together.

This team absolutely has my whole heart and I love working in this industry so much. Here’s to many more years at IGN.