On today, within the yr of our Horace 2007, Rock Paper Shotgun was born. Sure, earlier birthday posts will inform you the location’s official birthday is August twentieth – the day RPS was absolutely unveiled to the world – however those self same posts may also inform you the 4 RPS founders have been mucking about with the location in secret for effectively over a month earlier than that. It is also the date that is been etched into our Wikipedia web page, which everyone knows is the true supply of all data. So right here I’m, demanding showers of cake and confetti, as a result of I am now the one in charge for all this. Completely satisfied Birthday to us.
After all, technically it is our 149th birthday, us having been PC players since 1873 and all that – the everlasting, ineffable conumdrum sitting on the coronary heart of RPS that is been baffling occasional passers-by for effectively over a decade. I’ve solely been with the location for slightly below a 3rd of that point (the 15 years, I hasten so as to add, not the complete 149), having joined the location within the autumn of 2017 as RPS’ first {hardware} editor. The location’s modified fairly a bit since then, each by way of its design and its superb hivemind of writers. For instance simply how far we have come, this is what the location appeared like on October twenty sixth 2017, the day my very first publish acquired revealed.
D’aww, have a look at us being all edgy with that splatter impact throughout the Shotgun and our purple, white and black gamer colors! Weren’t we simply lovable?
Fairly completely different to as we speak’s model of the location, that is for certain, which we launched only a few months later in July the next yr. As you may see beneath, we nonetheless had our previous Newest blog-roll-style format in place again then, topped by a trio of hand-selected highlights from the editorial bigwigs. Nevertheless, final yr in 2021, we determined that three editorial spotlight containers simply wasn’t sufficient, so we requested our pretty tech wizards for an excellent shinier new homepage, including an infinite highlight to the highest of the location in addition to numerous pretty large cabinets to deal with the ever-expanding hallways of all our completely different sections. And sure, that darkish mode continues to be coming, of us. Our tech crew are on it, I promise.
It is not simply the look of the location that is modified within the final 5 years both. Certainly, other than Alice0 and myself, the remainder of all the present RPS crew is all brand-spanking new, as even our esteemed deputy editor Alice Bee solely joined the location in June 2018. Graham (RPS in peace) can also be nonetheless knocking round in our information cabinet, after all, serving to us to cowl a few of our night shifts, however his correct job now lies in our nice large company mothership within the sky.
Graham is not the one large title we have stated goodbye to since we turned ten. We have additionally bid a full-time farewell to Pip Warr, Adam Smith, Alec Meer, John Walker, Brendan Caldwell, Matt Cox, Nate Crowley, Matthew Fort, Noa Smith, Astrid Johnson, Alice Liguori, Dave Irwin, Sin Vega, James Legislation, Jake Inexperienced, Colm Ahern, Imogen Beckhelling, and simply final week, one in every of our first official feedback moderators, Felisha Dela Cruz. And that is not forgetting all our superb freelancers who’ve additionally gone on to greater and higher issues as effectively. We love every one in every of you, and you have all performed a important half in making RPS what it’s as we speak.
And what RPS is as we speak is an unbelievable crew of 11 of the UK’s greatest video games writers. I could also be mistaken on this, however I suppose that is the primary time we have ever really been at full power. With Alice Bee, Alice O’Connor, Rachel Watts, James Archer, Ollie Toms, Ed Thorn, CJ Wheeler, Liam Richardson, Rebecca Jones, Hayden Hefford and our ever devoted feedback mod Paolo Balmes at our facet, we lastly have a fully-rounded roster of stories, evaluations, options, {hardware}, guides and video buds now, and I can’t inform you how fortunate I really feel to be the individual main all of them every day. I am so, so enthusiastic about what the longer term holds for RPS, and I hope you’re, too.
In addition to persevering with to cowl all the newest and best video games from AAA blockbusters to the following large (and unknown) indie hits, we have large plans for Yr 2 of our just lately relaunched supporter program arising, the second iteration of The RPS 100 taking place very quickly, our ongoing Time Capsules and GOTY Revisited collection to stay up for (and sure, this month’s Time Capsule will certainly be 2007, in honour of our birthday), new columns, new video reveals and a lot extra ready within the wings – and I can not wait to inform you extra about all of them within the coming months.
So this is to you, loyal RPS reader. As we elevate our Horace champagne glasses and tuck into a giant slice of infinite Horace cake, I would prefer to say a giant thanks to everybody who’s learn us during the last 15 years. We would not be right here with out you, so thanks once more for serving to us hold the lights on. This is to the following decade and a half!