The virtue signal cast.

Love the crew but Jan is just a vacuum of personality that thinks volume and funny sounding words fills a podcast instead of insightful thoughts or interesting thoughts. Just keepJimmy jamming along and boot scooting… ugh

The cast has improved signifcantly with all the restructuring. It still has major problems that make listening to full episodes a chore. The news segments are great, and the game reviews can be quite good, depending on the reviewer. Everything outside of that is terrible. Most of the cast is aggressively unfunny, and their small talk is excruciating (unless you're like them, I guess). Minotti is a bright spot. He's a good speaker, he's a Real Gamer, and he's an excellent critic. His reviews are informative and reasonable even when he dislikes a game or even its whole genre. You can tell he is a real professional and takes games seriously. Grubb covers the news well, but his reviews are pretty shallow and often based purely on the opening hour(s) of the game. When he actually plays a game before reviewing it, which is rare, he's pretty good. He does have some rhetorical crutches he falls back on way too frequently, which does get irritating. Dan can be a great critic and a thoughtful conversationalist, but he has so little structure around him here that he's mostly just an annoying imp who adds nothing. If he had an actual boss, he'd be great at this. He doesn't, so he's not. His role is just to be a kid who never grew up while everyone else acts like he's eccentric instead of pathetic. Bakalar shouldn't be on the show. He adds literally nothing. He's a boring guy, he barely plays games, and he thinks about them even less. You'd fall asleep if you sat next to him at a wedding, there is no reason he should be on any entertainment broadcast. Every word he speaks on mic is dead air. Jan seems like a nice guy, but he also adds very little. His voice is monotone, his humor is atrocious, and he is an amateur critic at best. I know he's grandfathered in, and everyone likes him as a person, but he's not good at the job of speaking about games on a microphone. The worst of the cast is Shawn. This guy does not enunciate at all. He speaks like a toddler. Listening to him speak makes me want to tear my own skin off. Worst of all, he's one of the very few actual gamers on the show, so he talks a LOT, frequently as the only reviewer for a given game. Look, if he was just your friend or your coworker and he spoke that way, who cares. But this is an audio broadcast. The whole job is talking, and he can't talk. This is not an exaggeration. He sounds drunk. It is unlistenable. I had to stop listening to the Game Mess podcast because he was on it so much, now he's ruining this show, too. Either get him a speech therapist, or get him off the show. There's another low energy, middle-aged white guy on the show. I don't know his name. I'm not sure if he has one. He's obviously only here because half the cast doesn't even like video games all that much, so they need someone who actually plays games to hang around. I wouldn't care all that much about him, but the cast is already crowded, so it does look a little weird to add someone who could be a clone of most of the other cast members. (I do know he works on the site, I'm talking about why he's on the podcast.) When the show is focused on games and gaming news, it's good-to-great. Unsuprisingly, the quality of each conversation is directly related to how knowledgable the cast is on the topic. When they discuss a game they don't care about, or a story they didn't bother to read up on, the conversation is horrible, practically an insult to the listeners. When they actually care (which is rare), they are as good as anyone.

Love the pod, everyone’s humor and thoughts on games and culture. the ad reads are getting really, really rough. 25min ad block STACKED with really phoned in car ads right after? Cmon man. I pay for premium but would rather let yall have the streams boost your Podcast ranking here.

First time, long time. Love the pod but had to write a review because a grown man telling the world he doesn’t know how to heat soup or bread with cheese inside is the bravest thing I’ve heard this year! Keep up the good work!!

They’ve ship of theseus’d but this new crew is very very fun

Go see a Star Wars

New incarnation of Giant Bomb is great. Having fun and letting us in on the laughs. Get the premium version to skip commercials and support your fellow gamer beacons.

The boys are back in town

Update, decided to try again after a couple months 4/13/26. 2 minutes of ads and then Mike talking monotone about nothing of interest for a few minutes cut to intro And as soon as it actually starts they just roll back to a several minutes of let’s find out how Mike is feeling, earnestly is he sinking their ship on purpose? He doesn’t try like the rest of them, but talks twice as much as the rest of them that have actually done homework- original review- finally gave up and just unfollowed after 10 + years of Bombcast - Mike talks over the entire team throughout the entire show. He also doesn’t understand any sort of tact that maybe the listenership doesn’t find it cheeky or fun to remind us 14 times an episode that we should be spending money on them. The landslide downwards has been insanely fast. It’s especially odd considering they are the last of their contemporaries to go independent and are the ones to fail the worst at it.

Literally garbage now. Go sell crazy someplace else. After listening for 10 years I am done. Ben talks way too much and has almost nothing interesting to say. You just ruined the opening to the game Control the day it came out! Why do you think just being it happens in the beginning it isn’t a spoiler. Lazy! It takes skill to talk about something and not spoil it, that the staff evidently don’t have. The passion is gone and everyone seems uninterested overall.

Gaming & Game coverage is one of my escapes from the daily grind of political news, coverage, & opinions. Unfortunately this is another media group that automatically assumes that everyone wants to hear this in everything we listen too. Guess what, we don’t! Also keep in mind that you automatically alienate at least half the population when you go this route.

Congrats on independence

Dan Ryckart can’t save this show. The show will never be the same without Gerstman and Brad Shoemaker. Once my absolute favorite show, now I can’t listen to it at all.

I dig the pod, but guys PLEASE let each other speak! I find myself fast forwarding through several sections because it’s four guys all talking at the same time. No one seems to realize this? It’s exhausting.

Minotti talks too much. It gunks up group conversation and his energy is too childish and cringe (Baby Mikey wants chicken tendies). The pod would be better if it felt more like a group conversation vs Mike having verbal diarrhea.

Mary-O

I’ve been listening for over 10 years. One of my favorite podcasts ever.

At long last….

Let’s roll!

My favorite weekly podcast, so glad they’re back!

funny , informative and a great community attached to make it the best gaming podcast

Happy to hear the news, showing some support!

The brand’s safety has never been more assured!

We’re so back! You love to see it!

Support Independent Media

Can’t get enough.

I was a fan for many years, once jeff gerstmann left it was over. Jeff bakalar is annoying, dan is fun but in small doses. Jeff grub is amazing and needs to distance himself from the failing giant bomb. Jan is also awesome and needs to leave also and do his own thing. Everyone else good was fired or left leaving botton of the barrel boring content. Update: Evolution has occurred! Going Indie has returned Giant Bomb to greatness. The current team is outstanding and creating quality content. Let’s go 5 stars!

Congratulations on becoming independent and following your guys’ dreams! These guys are excellent, have been so for a long time, and finally have the freedom to operate as they wish. Very happy for you all!

Still my favorite podcast after all these years.

Glad to see GB go indie. The Pod is filled with some of the most knowledgeable people involving videogames who all have history of the medium. Not to mention the chemistry of the crew. I am a lonely individual, and these people feel like my friends who discuss my favorite hobby. I listen to them all the time, and wish them the best of luck!

Srsly. Shut up and listen, unless you’re laughing, you can make sounds if you’re laughing

There’s no Let’s Play without the Giant Bomb Quick Look. There’s no IRL streaming without Giant Bomb’s Unprofessional Fridays. And there’s no Cool People Talking About Video Games For Three Hours without their Bombcast. With their new shift to independent ownership, there’s Never Been a Better Time (tm) to start listening.

Seriously, so happy to continue to virtually hang out with the GB gang!

Let's go!

Absolutely the best video game podcast. A weekly listen for sure. Just the best crew and community.

There’s not many podcasts that can change their entire lineup and still be great but this is the exception. Glad to hear they can continue their passion on their own terms.

With the corporate dictums and layoffs I fear GB is dead in the water. Thanks for years of entertainment and for being a source or relief during some of the darkest periods of my life. I will not be supporting Fandom. I’m out.

An amazing cast that gels so perfectly! Their extensive knowledge combined with surgical comedic timing makes this a must listen every week.

Giant Bombcast is a surprisingly family-friendly gaming podcast that offers a great mix of humor, insight, and personality. Hosted by Jan, Dan, Jeff, and Mike, the show covers the latest in video games, tech, and pop culture in a way that’s engaging and approachable for listeners of various ages. Each episode is filled with lively banter, thoughtful discussion, and the kind of genuine camaraderie that makes you feel like you’re part of the conversation. The hosts bring different perspectives and tons of personality, making even the more technical gaming talk feel accessible and fun. What makes Giant Bombcast work for families is the balance — it’s informative without being dry, funny without being crude, and consistently entertaining. Whether you’re a parent sharing your love of games with your kids or just looking for a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this podcast is a great fit. Perfect for road trips, weekend listening, or winding down after dinner — Giant Bombcast is a winner for any household with a love for games and good conversation.

As reliable as you are hilarious, never change

I love that I can listen to this podcast that doesn’t address awful things like M rated video games and what some people do inside Rain Forest Cafes.

This is one of the best listens out there for laughs, camaraderie and video game news. I’ve listened for a decade at least - through host changes and ownership changes - it always remains a wonderful blend of intellectual discussion and goofs. Thanks, folks! Always delighted when it pops up in my feed.

Love the camaraderie with this crew. Love the dynamic each and every episode. My only note would be that Dan should lighten up on anime. As someone who personally likes both, it seems odd to bash anime while loving wrestling 😆

Started listening in the old days but extremely happy how this podcast has evolved in 2025. The current crew is so fun to listen to.

Mike Minotti is a national treasure.

The GB crew is always loads of fun to listen to. I look forward to it each week. Mike also brings a lot to the pod.

At least he’s not as weird as Dan.

Been a fan pretty much since the beginning so I’ll never turn my back on GB. Altho it’s sad to see so many new people come and go after a couple years. Update: everyone is gone and they can’t make a good podcast to save their lives. It’s as bad as it used to be good. Ryan is rolling in his grave. Get rid of Jan, he acts like a child and doesn’t manage a thing. These Californian kids are cringe

RIP Giant Bomb 2008-2022. Do yourself a favor and listen to Jeff Gerstmann’s show and Nextlander instead.