ANNOUNCEMENT TIME

Today I have some bittersweet news to share. April 23 will be my final day at UploadVR and my final day in game journalism as a whole. I've had an incredible, fulfilling, and successful career since I started writing about games 10 years ago.

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Over the next two weeks I'll transition my work and responsibilities at Upload to my amazing colleagues and finish up my lingering freelance assignments (which you'll see popping up at IGN, Android Central, GameSkinny and GameSpot).

I'll share where I'm going next on 4/26

Five years ago I was a patch notes writer at a tech company and I freelanced on the side, late at night and on weekends, slowly grinding away into the early AM hours, trying desperately to break in full-time after five years of slow growth.

That's when I landed at UploadVR.

I've been at UploadVR since before the Rift and Vive launched. I was there on the ground floor for the birth of modern consumer-ready virtual reality and it's been one of my proudest accomplishments to have taken a small hobby blog and helped transform it into what it is now.

One of my favorite moments is when I did a live demo of Sing Space, a Harmonix-developed Karaoke VR game on Gear VR. I didn't realize until afterward a crowd had gathered to hear me sing 'I Will Survive' and the one and only @yosp was caught laughing along. Epic gamer moment.

He even replied when I tweeted about it: https://twitter.com/yosp/status/786989455840161792

I have a ton of amazing memories from events, from my first VR-focused E3 in 2016 and playing Beat Saber in hotel rooms with @hmltn, to checking out The Void, launching the #E3VR showcase series, and so much more.

To this day I think my favorite piece I ever got to write for UploadVR is this early profile on Dante Buckley, the creator of Onward, back just after the game first launched in 2016. https://uploadvr.com/onward-college-dropout-vr-shooter/

And I'm immensely proud I was able to be a part of the beginning of VR Download, the amazing in-VR broadcast studio that @Heaney555 built the team uses for live podcasts, interviews, and talk shows.

https://uploadvr.com/podcast-the-vr-download/

In the five years since then I've come to love and appreciate @hmltn and @Hero_Kvatch like brothers. We've been through hell and back building that site and establishing the brand and now it's rising faster than ever with an amazing future ahead. I couldn't be more excited.

When I say this, I mean it with all my heart: @hmltn is literally family to me at this point. I've had more open, heartfelt, and emotional conversations with him than I have most of my actual relatives. I'd do anything for that man and I can't wait to see him in-person again.

There is a great team at UploadVR and I genuinely can't wait to see just how big it becomes. @hmltn @Hero_Kvatch @ZeenaAlobaidi @Heaney555 @hjbaker_ @Digital_Vix3n and @reverendkjr are all amazing and have my unending respect and love.

I also owe sincere thank-yous to the amazing editors I've worked with as a freelancer, including @RogueCheddar @DanStapleton @DMC_Ryan @Luceobrien @velocciraptor @Jmoore4388 @nicoletanner @robinlvalentine and TONS of others -- please reply and/or tag yourself.

I'd also like to issue a very special shout out to @AnthonyFrasier @richbaileyjr and @GarySwaby for believing in me ten years ago. They gave me my start at @TheKoalition in early 2011 and that's what got my foot in the door with this industry. I owe them so, so much.

Perhaps my favorite freelance piece I ever had is a retrospective on Sonic The Hedgehog leading up to the release of Sonic Mania. It was featured in GamesMaster Magazine (RIP) and included interviews with the head of Sonic team and 90s Sega legend, Tom Kalinske, himself.

Alas, that's enough for now. Like I said, I'm leaving game journalism, but I'm not leaving VR, tech, or games. They're my passions! I'll still be writing too.

I'll have more to share on 4/26! -- It's an amazing opportunity that's going to be a major blessing for my family.