That time has come. For anyone still checking back in hope that AusGamers would start posting regularly again, given we’ve been sporadic and largely dormant these past six or so weeks, we can now reveal that both Kosta and I, the site’s long-time co-managing editors, have made the decision to move on to something new, while Mammoth Media has decided to put the site out to pasture.

The reasons are numerous, but largely we just wanted a new challenge and to have full ownership over our next adventure. This was all amicable with no hard feelings between camps and therefore isn’t tied to the recent spate of site closures or firings or resignations across the gaming media landscape. (Largely because we haven’t been employed with Mammoth these past number of years, running the site in a kind of defacto setup with Mammoth.)

So what’s next for us?



We’re launching a new entertainment platform called 3rd-Phase Boss focusing on Gaming, Tech & Gear and Pop Culture. We’ll also be building out a merch store, working with artists that work in and around gaming and pop culture to produce bespoke ‘Limited Run’-style shirts and prints. The tone of the site will be not all that dissimilar to what we produced here, but it’ll be more expansive and will focus more heavily on the celebration of so-called ‘geek culture’ and will feature a more rounded and dynamic social media presence.

But we want to specify it won’t be AusGamers 2.0 (the Mammoth cats have given us permission to carryover a collection of our work from here, though that will be updated and reformatted for the new digs so as not to ‘copy and paste’, so to speak).

This wasn’t an easy decision. For almost two decades AusGamers and Mammoth Media have been ever-present in my life, and I can’t thank Trog and Term enough for taking a punt on me all those years ago, and my time working alongside Dan and Eorl as well as the rest of the Mammoth Media guys will forever remain one of my most beloved professional jaunts. And then being able to work with one of my best friends in Kosta at this site has been amazing, but together we just felt it was time we owned our own s***. 3rd-Phase Boss is wholly owned by us under our freshly-minted digital publishing and professional writing business, Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd and will launch in early 2024.

Thanks to everyone who followed our words and our stories over the years and thanks to everyone we ever worked with here. You can get in touch with us at our new digs via email and for all enquiries related to AusGamers use the site’s contact form as those still reach Mammoth Media.

Cheers,

Steve and Kosta

Good luck with the new site!

Best of luck, cainers!

RIP In Peace.

Damn, this has been my go to website for gaming news for over 20 years, I think i found it from playing countrer-strike on ausgamers or QGL servers. The simple design and no fuss articles have made it my homepage for much of that time and the first thing i check when loading up chrome.
Thanks to everyone involved in the site past and present, best of luck going forward with the new site. Perhaps it can be my new homepage for another 20 years.

Everything new on the internet sucks.

GL

It wouldn't be a proper farewell without a cynical Hoggy boost of confidence :P

I'll still be hanging around in these forums from time to time, but maybe now the old crew can reclaim the feed and not be spammed with stuff from Kosta and I and just go back to arguing political semantics and philosophies!

Crazy. best of luck and thanks for the articles!

Yoooo. Great to hear Steve and Kosta. Thanks for all your contributions and good times over the years and best of luck with the new digs.

First Wireplay and now this... Have always trusted an Ausgamers review before getting a new game, and appreciated your hot takes on all the things over the years. Will keep an eye out for 3rd Phase. All the best guys and thank you x1000 :)

thanks bros, thanks everyone.

i met some truely awesome people here, and paveway.

It wouldn't be a proper farewell without a cynical Hoggy boost of confidence :P

Hah you know it!

I'm actually kind of hopeful that as people who were there for web 1.0 that you might put together something worthwhile. Be sure to post when you get your thing online so I can register and s*** all over it please :)

Really enjoyed Ausgamers over the years. Thanks for everything o7

Cheers guys, best of luck with the new project :)

End of an era.
Thanks for all the lols over the years.

This is really sad news but also happy for everyone at the same time. Thanks so much for making ausgamers what it was and I'll def be checking out 3rd phase.

After that absolutely terrible Prince of Persia: Warrior Within review was posted, it was only a matter of time.
gj folks, thanks for all the fish :)

Thank you for all your work.
Best wishes and GG!!

Farewell, thanks for keeping the site alive after all of these years.

Damn, sorry to see you folks go. It's been a while.

Best of luck with the future.

/salute

a lot of non names here.

id like to see a heap of old skool real names pop by to say goodbye

Needs an nF or maxe one-liner, just for the memories

Or Einy to post up some 2023 progress pics

a lot of non names here.

id like to see a heap of old skool real names pop by to say goodbye

They're all still doin' time for their crimes committed at QGL Lans.

What a journey it was.

Thanks for the link Spook

Memories of LAN party at QSAC flooding back, lugging a 22" CRT monitor through carpark.

Someone always dropped one, thankfully I wasn't one of them!

Wow, good luck and all the best with the new site lads. Was a fun run.

Almost 2 weeks after this announcement, no 3rd Phase Boss website for me to s*** on yet.

Is it actually coming anytime soon, or is this like a vibe check?

3rd-Phase Boss is wholly owned by us under our freshly-minted digital publishing and professional writing business, Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd and will launch in early 2024.

As per the OP.

It's designed, as in all pages have been signed off, it's now with the developer. But yeah, we're kicking things off in 2024, we just needed to let all of our contacts know and to start trying to build an army of artists wanting to work with us for our merch stuff so we don't launch with an empty store front ;)

Thankyou - Been swinging by for 20 years or so, won a few giveaways and lurked on forums learning about life - Thanks

I used to love the debates with Paveway. They were some of the most epic fun on this forum.

Waiting...600 secs
Waiting...500 secs
Waiting...400 secs
Waiting...300 secs
Waiting...200 secs
Waiting...100 secs
Waiting...0 secs

and I still have a post limit of only one post per 10 minutes after all these years...hahahahaha

Makes people think I was naughty or something.

As per the OP.

It's designed, as in all pages have been signed off, it's now with the developer. But yeah, we're kicking things off in 2024, we just needed to let all of our contacts know and to start trying to build an army of artists wanting to work with us for our merch stuff so we don't launch with an empty store front ;)

Missed that from your overlong OP somehow.

Wake me up when something interesting is happening.

I was wondering why there hasn't been anything happening on the site for sometime. AusGamers has been my Number 1 go to for gaming news for many years. Sad to see this site go but good luck and all the best.

Hi

Bye

Also good luck with the new venture 👍🏼

maxe was in C block at Arthur Gorrie last I heard

maxe was in C block at Arthur Gorrie last I heard

lol where did you hear that?
ive never seen the inside of a gaol


let the record show that as of my last last qgl post i am free man. living, learning, thriving

damn son

Best of luck with the new platform lads, will be keeping an eye out.

lol where did you hear that?
ive never seen the inside of a gaol

But you do have your own dungeon for lone unsuspecting wayward travellers.

But you do have your own dungeon for lone unsuspecting wayward travellers.

Who doesn't?

Who doesn't?

Wow! Did I miss out on another trend. I need to work on my trendsetting.

lol well posting some absurd story/one liner is sure to bring you into the thread that delivers

when does the new website go live ?

Hello all,
Good luck all
:)

thanks for the ride.

good luck to all.

Star Guitar - Chemical Brothers.

Good luck to you and Kosta on what is no doubt going to be some absolutely stellar moments in your lives! I can't thank you, Steve, and Trog, Dan and Co. for giving me a chance all those years ago to taste the games journalist rainbow, and for that I will forever be grateful of such amazing moments in my life. It truly was a pleasure to work alongside you Steve, your editorial skills and knowledge of the media space is second to none and will be undoubtedly utilised to full potential in your next adventures with Kosta.

So indeed, so long and thanks for all the fish ;)

Will def miss AG, but good luck with the new platform. Take care!

We have a Discord if anyone felt compelled to jump into it for regular chats while we wait for the site to be up and running (and then beyond as well, of course :P)

https://discord.gg/CQaCTumZ

Still stuck the head in from time to time over the years, but surprised it's been this long. Good luck with the new stuff guys, thanks for a fun couple of.. uh, decades.

christ

We have a Discord if anyone felt compelled to jump into it for regular chats while we wait for the site to be up and running (and then beyond as well, of course :P)

https://discord.gg/CQaCTumZ

Brokened and s*** for me, my other discrods work

https://i.imgur.com/aTqOgJK.png

Might be some sort of access signup bulls*** that isn't working properly?

Always enjoyed reading your reviews, so glad to see you guys go on to make something new.

But sad that this might mean the final blow that kills qgl.

Thanks for the update Hoggy, I'll try suss why that is. Might be that we're not a public server or something stupid I didn't check.

Will let you know if I can suss it. I did see you 'join' the server, but you were bounced or bounced almost immediately.

EDIT: Actually I think I fixed it!

Speaking of QGL... that first photo!

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/jan/20/strange-sweaty-sociable-early-days-of-gaming-in-pictures

:)

that's Boba or infi isn't it ?

Eloquant article of read from the guru of Webcentral himself, troggles. i've been meaning to donate to Guardian in the past few months, however since their content is free anyway and not paywalled-to-continue reading i haven't been pressed to as yet.

Bluenews has been getting my priority of monthly donaation ticker for almost 6 months, as it's been a goto source for the pasttimne since i was 16 and a friend in the same grade would contrib from time to time.

i noticed that either for editorial reasons or otherwise that Blue missed the realease of Under The Waves for PC digital last August, and the more recent update on 2's health condition has been dismaying to read.

last edited by trillion at 20:07:58 23/Jan/24

A very late reply from me - apologies (had some family stuff happening when this was posted, and then after that ended I got appendicitis, so the last couple months have been intense).

Best wishes for the future to both Steve & Kosta. Your efforts in keeping AusGamers alive over the last few years were amazing and of course all the stuff we did when we worked together was not only impeccable but very enjoyable. I was always blown away by your engagement with the industry and how you communicated your findings back to the gamer community, both locally & globally.

While I haven't posted as much as I used to I still read every news item and (almost) every review that was posted, knowing that it was going to be the best look at what is going on.

I think it's testament to your professionalism both as a gamer & as a journalist that you've been able to have such a long and distinguished tenure here with basically no major issues outside of a few gamers being sad because you scored a game a couple of points too high or too low. In an era which encompassed some amazingly terrible online behaviours, AusGamers, under your lead, not only avoided getting dragged into diverting messes but focused on the core mission and continued to deliver what it was founded to do - deliver the best possible information to the Australian gamer.

Unfortunately changing conditions in the online publishing market and gaming industry all affected AusGamers' parent company which meant it wasn't able to get the attention that it once used to. I've been disappointed that this happened & have been searching for ways to try to resurrect something from the ashes for years, but it requires almost a back-to-the-drawing-board approach - so I'm glad you guys are breaking off to pursue exactly that strategy.

I don't know what comes next for AusGamers - obviously it will be quiet around here for a while. But I'd like to think there's an adventure or two left in it somewhere.

Very much looking forward to seeing your new venture unfold and doing whatever I can to help it be a success!

Thanks for everything.

Thanks for the update trog, I was about to post a new thread about some Windows adventures I have had recently and wasn't sure if this place was set for destruction or not. I'll keep treating it like my personal tech blog until I hear otherwise :p

If you can possibly keep it (especially these crusty old forums) online for those of us who remain, please do! It's a wonderful record of Australian internet and gaming culture and nothing else from the period still persists. We ofc have the wayback machine but that's just not the same and reddit has become a f***ing cesspool. I really like this little quiet corner of the net.

I'd be interested in posting random thoughts and composing articles (for free) if it helps at all to keep the lights on, but I can't commit to a schedule or anything like that. I am time rich these days but my enthusiasm is a bit bipolar.

Actually ... maybe that's a pathway?

Crowd source your content via a set of volunteers who either do it for the love and the historicity of the site, or are young, enthusiastic and looking for publishing credits with a real site.

Maybe even convert AGN to a non-profit dedicated to supporting Australian gaming culture, community, development, independent journalism and review.

is there someway i can convert my postcount into actual crypto?

is there someway i can convert my postcount into actual crypto?

Post your bank details to http://somefatbastard.crypto.inmybackpocket.com

is there someway i can convert my postcount into actual crypto?

I'll create an ETH sub-token, what could go wrong?!

I'm in!

More like Auslamers.

Vale and thanks for the website. Best of luck with whatever you do next.

Sad to see. I drop back in now and then to see if any of the old heads are up to anything. I owe a lot to many of the guys around QGL everything from hardware advice and building/repairing pc's for me to learning the basics of pc's (didnt feel basic at the time). Things have changed so much on the net and the gaming world over the last 20+ years. Thanks to all the boys who have put in so much work over the years. So many great memories and good people.

I remember this site exists every 6 months or so.

I still use the QGL.AUSFORUMS.COM link so it looks the same as it always did.

It's always a weird time capsule coming back here and seeing familiar names.

Whens the next Lan?

Checking in (very late) to say it's been real champs. From attending QGL to haunting Brissie LAN cafes to GameArena and then here as a refugee. Can't wait for 3rd-Phase Boss (although I distinctly recall telling Steve in detail how much I hate three phase bosses when doing my Dark Souls 3 review)

Coming Soon™

So ah... yeah, we're finally live and functioning everyone: http://3rd-phase-boss.com

Buy a shirt, leave a Comment on something -- we're still a bit bare bones in terms of content. But we're really stoked with the tone and aesthetic. We worked with a B2B mob down here in Sydney who've never done anything to this scale before which is why we took way longer, but we're only moving onward and upward from here.

You'll find borked stuff I'm sure, but be kind please :P

Love and miss you all -- even the grumpier of you haha

last edited by Steve Farrelly at 14:29:13 30/Sep/24

I just had the best idea, make a luggage bag into a PC case, so you can wheel it to ANZ stadium with the handle and everything.