GameFAQs Is Losings Its Lead Moderator, but the Message Board Will Soldier On

The Gist:

• GameFAQs has been one of the most popular message boards in gaming for nearly 30 years.
• On Oct. 18, 2023, its long-time admin SBAllen announced that he would be stepping away from that role and from Fandom.
• Some fans think this could be a bad omen about the future of the message board and Fandom's ownership in general.

Message boards may not be at the center of the internet the way they once were, but they remain a powerful force, especially in certain communities. GameFAQs, one of the most popular message boards on the internet dedicated exclusively to all things gaming, has been around for 30 years. In that time, the forum has obviously gone through a number of changes and survived a lot of upheaval on the internet.

Now, a new change is coming to GameFAQs that has some wondering what happened to the forum, and why it's suddenly in the news again. Fortunately, we've got everything you need to know about what the latest change at GameFAQs was, and what it means.

The latest change coming to GameFAQs was announced on the forum itself on Oct. 18, 2023. SBAllen, whose real name is Allen Tyner, is one of the message board's long-time admins. SBAllen announced that he would be stepping away from that role, and from Fandom, the company that owns GameFAQs, more generally.

"Howdy all. Just a quick message to let everyone know that I'll be stepping down as an Admin for GameFAQs as I've decided to part ways with Fandom," SBAllen's message begins.

"I've enjoyed my time working on this site and I'll stick around as a Moderator for now and to offer whatever knowledge I can to those still working on the site, but after 20 long years I just don't enjoy things like I used to and need to find some new challenge to tackle," SBAllen continued. "Thanks, everyone, I'll still be around, possibly more as I move back down to a user rather than an Admin."

This news sent shockwaves through the GameFAQs community, in part because, as SBAllen said, he has been with the site for 20 years, which is almost all of its history. Many current users don't know what the site looks like without his presence as an Admin. Of course, SBAllen isn't disappearing from the site completely, he's just shifting back into a role as more of a user.

"Looks like Fandom broke the now former GameFAQs administrator. SBAllen stepped down yesterday. Can't say I blame him; Fandom is cancer," one person wrote on Twitter. "It's only a matter of time before GameFAQs is dead because of Fandom."

Clearly, some users blame Fandom for SBAllen's decision to step down, although he didn't go into much detail about what his exact reasons were. Some clearly think his decision to step aside is an ominous sign for the future of GameFAQs more generally, but only time will tell whether that's the case or not.