Brave Leader Hodapp is leaving the site. Eli, as the point man for Touch Arcade, got a lot of grief in these forums and in article comments. I like to think that most of that was driven by how important TA has been to many of us who have been long-time iOS gamers. And I think that the importance TA held was built from the quality and focus and integrity that TA delivered. When we had issues, it was because we wanted THIS site to be the best. A lot of us have long felt that our loyalty was well-earned. 10 years is a LONG TIME in the tech world. Especially when you begin with something as nascent as ye olde iPod touch, and eventually a concept called a “smart phone.” Eli has seen some major expansion and transformation of what was once a minor tech accessory in that time. The integrity of this site has always been built on putting the gamers’ experiences first. This isn’t the case with every site. A tight focus — as on gaming here, and the passion for indie gaming especially — can serve as a limiter for financial growth, or even survival. But it’s what I have valued about TA. For a lot of Eli’s time at TA it has seemed like the ship was being piloted against the currents. Some of that was Apple’s vague and often fickle priorities for the AppStore. Some was merely the trends driven by the growing profitability of mobile gaming. Some was from various storms kicked up by users of the site itself, and the various (and vigorous) passions among the TA community. But I feel that Eli has held the ship fairly true during his time at the helm. For all that TA has been, then, I feel some appreciation is due to Eli Hodapp. So my thanks to you, Eli. And my best wishes in whatever lies ahead for you personally. Of course I hope for the best for TA, as well. I hope others might have a place to voice their feelings on Eli’s departure in this thread.
Very sad to hear. Best luck to Eli on his next endeavor. Not too many of us left from those early days.
Saw it on Twitter. (No news article? Or did I miss it?) Anyway, I think he's meant a lot for TA and it's too bad to see him go. Yeah, he sometimes could get a bit petty in the comment section, but that was amusing sometimes as well .
Yeah same here, no news item here so wasnt aware it was announced. Done a ton for iOS gaming, how on earth Apple never tried to buy/use/sponsor this site i dont know. Bought so many games thanks to threads here, bought more games i might not have bought before due to reading reviews also. Often you see a game and might have some first impressions of 'nah', read some reviews and its changed my mind for the good. iOS gaming to me has changed, i remember years back there were 6-9 games i would buy a week there was so much quality. Now theres too much freemium for me and my gaming has gone lighter BUT every now and then you get a complete gem. I mean theres millions of iphones out there so i'm sure we'll keep getting games. Until peoples attitudes change and they dont whinge about a game being 99c or 1.99 or wait for a sale/promo codes all the time we'll be stuck with freemium. 15 year old me still cant get over that in the palm of my hand i have all these classic games on my phone, from retro ones like Sonic to some amazing looking platformers or shooters. All in the palm of my hand where i can take it anywhere. Amazing ! But huge hats off to Eli, hope the site continues to do be as popular as it is, sure it will with Jared and co.
Well... the newest info sounds pretty great. Fresh hints of what’s next for Eli, in this article about GameClub: https://toucharcade.com/2019/03/05/gameclub-announced/ And Eli’s more detailed announcement: https://toucharcade.com/2019/03/05/im-leaving-toucharcade-to-join-gameclub/ Sounds like GameClub will be a worthy subject of its own. That said, feel free to share any thoughts you might like as a send off for Eli.
