AFTERPAD

Saying Goodbye

Hello everybody,

It has been a while since I last posted. For good reason, I assure you. I’ve been working on some great things for the future. But first, I have to get some unhappiness out of the way.

I’m closing down AfterPad. For greener pastures, I hope. But still, saying goodbye is never easy.

The Journey

I started AfterPad with one main goal in mind: create the website I wanted to have, as a MFi controller owner. I wanted a place where every MFi controller compatible game was laid out cleanly, clearly, and completely. I figured others might want the same thing, so I built it.

I also wanted a place for news, reviews, and discussion of MFi controller content. There isn’t much out there in the way of editorial content for MFi controller fans. The big sites would mention controller support in passing, but they were focused on the mobile gaming audience at large. Again, I saw a place for myself – as niche writer, but an authority in my field. And MFi controllers were, and are, a niche that deserves writing about.

I figured that if I could generate enough revenue to pay for my MFi controllers and fund my game downloads, the site would be a success. My MFi controller hobby would be fully paid for, and the community would have a great resource. If my writing was good, I might even be able to carve out a small name for myself in the Apple / gaming / iOS writing ecosystem I love so much. AfterPad succeeded at these goals, far beyond my expectations. It has been a pleasure to be a part of it for these past years.

AfterPad was built entirely by me. It was hand-coded, personally designed, and meticulously crafted to be the very best website I know how to make. Many sleepless nights were spent adjusting the smallest details of font spacing, optimizing the last few kilobytes of load time, creating the perfect experience for every iPhone and iPad. I’m immensely proud of the work I’ve done.

There was, however, one big problem: where do I go from here? All the low-hanging fruit was picked. AfterPad was generating steady income as a one-man blog, but I have ambitious ideas about the type of place MFi gaming deserves, and I’ve reached the point where these ideas outstrip what I can build as a one-man spare-time project.

I considered many ideas for how to solve this problem. One idea kept sticking out: join a major company who shares many of my goals and desires. So that’s what I’ve done: as of this week, I’m officially a member of Gamevice!

Joining Gamevice

I’ve worked with many different companies over the years I’ve ran AfterPad, but Gamevice has always stood out as something special. From the very first version, the Gamevice has been far-and-away the best MFi controller. It’s creators have been incredibly receptive to my feedback, and have been incorporating my suggestions into their product for years. As a member of the team, I’m looking forward to being able to take the Gamevice hardware even further.

Gamevice has an opportunity, with their website and their app, to create an incredible resource for Gamevice owners, as well as MFi and iOS gamers in general. Something with a reach, budget, and team far beyond what I was capable of at AfterPad, as a single person. I’m looking forward to bringing my expertise with AfterPad towards helping make this happen.

The downside, of course: joining Gamevice means saying goodbye to AfterPad.

As a part of Gamevice, I can make the mobile game controller ecosystem into a much stronger place than I can as an independent. I’ve seen what I can do as a single writer and designer – it wasn’t bad! I’m proud of what I’ve done; now I want to see what I can do working with the best mobile controller maker in the world.

Winding Down AfterPad

That’s it for the big picture. The specifics of winding down AfterPad are as follows:

And to clarify something important, AfterPad remains entirely my own. I have never shared any of my readers’ personal information, email accounts, or private communications with anyone. I never will.

Final Thoughts

As bittersweet as it is for me to be writing this message, this is not exactly goodbye. Quite the opposite, I hope. I expect you’ll be hearing from me very soon, in one form or another, from my new home at Gamevice. And I hope you’ll experience my impact in the products and services Gamevice has planned for the future.

This is the end of an important chapter of my life, and I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for supporting me. I’m incredibly excited about what I’ll be working on now, and I hope you’ll join me in where I go from here. I hope to talk to you again very soon.

-Kevin MacLeod