Elon Musk’s Twitter Chases Away Nibel, One Of Its Most Prolific Video Game News Sources

Nibel

Twitter

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has claimed its first casualty within my gaming-based circle. Citing in part Musk’s actions since he took power, prolific video game news source Nibel (@Nibellion) has announced they are leaving Twitter and locking their account. With 447,000 followers, that’s more than any individual games journalist I know and more than some entire outlets.

Nibel was a constant poster, raking the industry for up to the minute news. Often when I first heard about a breaking story, it would be from him directly. He mostly reported plain facts, occasionally with his own takes, and recently launched a Patreon to try to bolster financial support for the time spent with his coverage.

The Patreon failing to take off may be part of the reason Nibel is hanging up his account. In his final Patreon posts (via VGC), he cites its underperformance:

“I’ve learned a lot in a short period of time. Unfortunately, I was not able to create an interesting and sustainable Patreon which is evident in the number of Patrons stagnating during the first weekend and the first (of many) pledges being deleted during the first week.

“I have miscalculated the value of my Twitter activity and realize that it is nothing worth supporting by itself for the vast majority of people. It is not me who is popular, but it is that work that is useful. It is not valuable by itself, but a comfortable timesaver, and I get that now.”

US entrepreneur and business magnate Elon Musk gestures during a visit at the Tesla Gigafactory … [+] plant under construction, on August 13, 2021 in Gruenheide near Berlin, eastern Germany. (Photo by Patrick Pleul / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

But Nibel also cited the Musk takeover as contributing to his departure, and he’s voiced open skepticism about Musk’s ability to lead Twitter in the past:

“Then there is the elephant in the room which is the platform itself. I don’t think that Twitter has yet experienced good leadership, and this trend will not change with Musk either. I do not trust the platform. I do not trust Musk and his seemingly infinite immaturity. I do not think Twitter will fall apart instantly but that it could die a slow death. Why waste more time?”

Last night, news broke about one of Elon’s first Twitter projects, where he is going to allegedly start charging $20 a month for verification badges, and those who currently have them but don’t pay will see them removed eventually. This spawned a host of mockery about how bad an idea it seemed to be on its face, but also real concerns about impersonation and spam if anyone will be able to buy their way into a verified checkmark, which will completely alter the meaning of the indicator.

As for Nibel, he says he will no longer provide any video game coverage on Twitter or Patreon. His Twitter account is locked and dark. I suspect his will not be the last.

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