Easy Allies

* 2022-present
* 2016-2022

**Easy Allies** (EZA) is an independent Patreon-supported group of experienced journalists, writers and web content producers. They primarily focus on video game related coverage, although they regularly feature various other forms of entertainment media as well. The range of content they produce includes lengthy podcasts, succinct reviews, and a variety of livestreams. They love playing video games, analyzing the games industry, and interacting with the community.

After thirteen years of creating entertainment as GameTrailers, the company was shut down in February 2016 by owner Defy Media. Nine former employees, including GameTrailers co-founder and primary voice-over Brandon Jones, went on to form Easy Allies. They launched the company on March 21, 2016 out of Brandon Jones' garage in Los Angeles, California as their main production facility and set. They initially started with the promise of a livestream and podcast and set goals on Patreon to help them pick up where they left off from GT. Within 48 hours of launching the company and their Patreon, they reached over $34,000 per month from about 4,000 patrons.

After almost three years in The Garage and reaching a $50,000 per month Patreon goal to acquire a dedicated studio space for expanded production capabilities, they officially moved into The Studio in Los Angeles on January 29, 2019. Facilities include a main stage for filming podcasts and produced content, control room for the main stage, a streaming stage with multiple couches, an office area, library, bathroom, and green room.

In March 2020, Easy Allies officially halted production in The Studio due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and started working from home. This caused some shows and projects to be placed on hiatus while others had to be adapted to work remotely. This also came with the announcement of Kyle Bosman's departure from Easy Allies the following month.

In May 2021, Easy Allies announced they would officially be returning to The Studio as a group on June 10, 2021. The date coincided with all of the Allies being fully vaccinated and COVID-cleared as well as the first day of E3.

In March 2022, Easy Allies announced Phase Infinity during EZX 2022. This introduced many big changes including Brandon's retirement, Isla and Bloodworth being introduced as new co-heads of Easy Allies, and numerous business and branding changes. Changes during the summer also included the arrival of Gabby Montoute and the departure of Ben Moore.

In March 2023, Easy Allies made some changes to their Patreon Tiers following the survey feedback. They brought down the number of tiers down from 15 to 8 and made the $5 and $10 tiers more attractive options. It also came with EZX 2023 which included new shows, streams, announcements, and a fundraiser.

## History

### The Garage (2016-2018)

#### GameTrailers closure, Easy Allies origins (2016)

    After GameTrailers was shut down by owner Defy Media on February 8, 2016, most of the remaining staff including GameTrailers co-founder Brandon Jones announced the creation of Easy Allies on March 20 of the same year. They officially launched out of Brandon Jones' garage the following day with a 12-hour livestream marathon on their Twitch page. The company is primarily funded via Patreon, with support from backers reaching $40,000 per month within three months of launch.

Because all trademarks and copyrights relevant to GameTrailers remained property of Defy Media following its closure, Easy Allies was unable to re-use the names of shows established under the GameTrailers banner. Brandon Jones acknowledged this issue by pitching to Patrons "you know the show, we're just going to change the title". The GameTrailers brand and associated assets were purchased by IGN in May 2016.

A couple days after launch, the Easy Allies Podcast premiered on March 23, 2016. The podcast breaks down the biggest headlines in video games each week and was moderated by Kyle Bosman with Brandon Jones acting as a permanent panelist alongside a rotating panel. Later, Isla Hinck was added on the switcher in the Control Room. It was the successor to GameTrailers' podcast GT Time, from which it also borrowed its general vibe along with many of its segments.

Easy Update hosted by Isla Hinck debuted on March 26, 2016. It was a spiritual successor to the GameTrailers show Mandatory Update and features unorthodox looks at games, original music, conversations with other Allies and friends, and on occasion, pure magic. The weekly show led to several albums of music being released by Isla on Bandcamp and SoundCloud as well as live performances featuring special guests and the Easy Update Band.

On March 30, 2016, the weekly Dungeons & Dragons series Tabletop Escapades hosted by Ben Moore debuted with the first episode of Season 1. The primary players included Bradley Ellis, Kyle Bosman, Michael Huber, and Isla Hinck. The show was a spiritual successor to the GameTrailers series Tabletop Adventures, although it was set in an entirely new world with new characters and events.

    The weekly Patreon-exclusive show Cup of Jones debuted on March 31, 2016. Hosted by Brandon Jones, he gives a behind-the-scenes update on what's happening at Easy Allies, answers questions, and gives a brief editorial.

On April 11, 2016, Easy Allies debuted its secondary podcast, Frame Trap hosted by Ben Moore. The panel talks more in depth about what they've been playing and spending their time with. They also tackle a variety of topics related to video games and other media such as music and TV shows.

Huber Syndrome hosted by Michael Huber debuted on April 12 as a weekly discussion on what he's passionate about. The show was the successor to the GameTrailers show Huber Hype. Episodes typically feature Huber speaking to the camera solo but sometimes features other Allies as part of the conversation.

The monthly improv show Fiasconauts originally started as an Easy Update episode on September 10, 2016. A Tabletop Escapades Presents episode was featured on September 21 and it officially became its own show on October 28, 2016. Headed up by Isla Hinck, each episode features zany improv scenarios based on the tabletop game Fiasco.

The first-ever Easy Allies Awards was aired on December 14, 2016 to celebrate the best games of the year. Awards are given out in a variety of fun and serious categories culminating in the Game of the Year award. After deliberating upon winners as an editorial team, each Ally also provides their own personal picks. The 2016 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to The Last Guardian, developed by SIE Japan Studio.

#### The Hall of Greats, anniversary concert, Easy Livin' (2017)

    On February 21, 2017, Easy Allies established The Hall of Greats, a quarterly Group Stream Night event in which the Allies vote for the games they deem worthy of being called One of the Greats. Each Ally brings forth a game they believe is worthy and are provided five minutes to present their case and five minutes to answer questions in a cross-examination. At the end of the event, each Ally votes and two games make it into the Hall of Greats.

Lost episodes of the GameTrailers series Don's Design Lab hosted by Don Casanova first premiered at Easy Allies on February 28, 2017. The show was a collaborative effort to playtest and design levels in Super Mario Maker for Wii U. The episodes were previously filmed at GameTrailers and featured guests like GT alumni Elyse Willems.

Easy Allies celebrated their first anniversary on March 21, 2017 with the first Easy Allies in Concert live show. They held the event at Prospect Theatre in Los Angeles, California and invited members of the community to attend. The show included live music performances, premieres, and a look back at the first year of Easy Allies. Their first anniversary was also celebrated by the One Year Strong Mega Stream, a 12-hour live stream that featured a variety of games, video premieres, and announcements. Future plans included a new $40,000 goal for a bi-weekly Nintendo podcast and The Easy Allies Movie Podcast, a new $7 film club tier, Zelda Talk, Blood Pact Patreon tier moving down from $75 to $60, The Souls Retrospective written by Bradley Ellis and edited by Brandon Jones, and Don't Skip.

The short-form game showcase Don't Skip premiered on March 25, 2017 originally as part of the one year anniversary live show. The show highlights video games that are worth taking time out of your schedule to play that didn't receive a full Easy Allies review. Later episodes were known for taking a more personal tone and presentation with the featured Ally recommending the game.

Their Nintendo-themed podcast Friend Code premiered on April 11, 2017 hosted by passionate and critical Nintendo fan Michael Damiani. The show focuses on the latest in Nintendo news, takes Patron questions, and sometimes features special guests to talk about a variety of Nintendo-related topics.

A new monthly movie podcast titled Reaction Shots debuted on April 14, 2017. Hosted by film buffs Isla Hinck and Michael Huber, they study various film trends and genres. The podcast also features its own $7 and up Patreon tier titled The Easy Allies Film Club where you get early access to the podcast, access to Isla and Huber's ever-growing favorite movies list, and eligibility to submit comments, questions, and discussion topics for inclusion in each episode.

A new Patreon goal for a web series called Box Peek by Kyle Bosman was announced on May 19, 2017 and was quickly met by the end of the month. The show is about a fictional sport in which competitors climb into boxes and try to peek at each other. It features paper puppets made and directed by Kyle himself along with voiceover work by the Allies and friends.

Brandon Jones debuted his trailer discussion and review show Trailer Jones on June 19, 2017. It was a successor to the GameTrailers shows Let's All Go to the Trailers, Trailer Academy, and Trailer Score. The show primarily focused on video game trailers but sometimes featured movie trailers as well.

They held their first annual Easy Livin' 50-hour beach house event from August 4-6, 2017. All nine Allies spent a weekend together streaming a multitude of games consecutively without ever intentionally ending the stream. A broadcast schedule was created to rotate who was playing and ensure at least one person was always streaming. The stream began with a full playthrough of Super Mario Sunshine and ended with a Tekken 7 Tournament.

    In September 2017, Isla and Brandon filmed a Home Studios Tips and Tricks episode of Easy Update where they showed a behind-the-scenes look at some updates to The Garage. Additions included the installation of new studio lights, updating the studio setup, and adding additional background flourishes.

Deliberations and results for the 2017 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 17, 2018. New categories were introduced while some existing categories remained. The 2017 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, developed by Nintendo EPD.

#### Reviews update, second concert, equipment upgrade (2018)

After a brief hiatus upon the completion of Season 1, Tabletop Escapades Season 2 debuted on January 31, 2018. The new season kicked off with a dramatically changed party in a world very different from the one they remembered.

After more than 100 reviews as Easy Allies, they decided to update their review score system on February 16, 2018. They switched from a 5-star system to a numerical 10-point scale with 0.5 intervals, similar to most other review editors. This shift was made in order to accommodate better with review aggregator sites and provide more flexibility to match the score with the review.

Easy Allies celebrated their second anniversary with Easy Allies in Concert: Revengeance on March 18, 2018. Held at Tommy's Place on the USC Campus in Los Angeles, California, the live show featured video premieres, live performances, and a celebration of Year 2 of Easy Allies. They also streamed a special extended 2-Year Anniversary Group Stream to celebrate.

Don Casanova's long-form narrative show **The Busted Trifecta** premiered on March 19, 2018. It takes place within the world of Tecmo's 1998 horse-racing game Gallop Racer for the original PlayStation and follows a man known as The Rider, who decides to give up his well paying job in order to follow his dream of becoming a world famous horse racer. The show would go on to produce seven episodes starring all of the Allies and culminate with a full length movie edit of the series.

    On April 19, 2018, they held a Better Stuff Before E3 9-hour marathon fundraiser event to help them get better equipment for their E3 2018 coverage. They initially set a modest $10,631 goal, but it was quickly shattered early on in the fundraiser. They surpassed their final goal of $30,426.80 in the final hour of the stream. Isla and Brandon installed the new gear in a second Home Studio Tips and Tricks episode of Easy Update.

EZA Game Day 2018, a 24-hour charity stream benefitting The AbleGamers Charity to assist gamers with disabilities, was held on July 25-26, 2018. They took turns playing games in blocks while contributing to the creation of a song in KORG Gadget for Nintendo Switch in between each shift. They set an initial $5,000 fundraising goal for their campaign and raised a total of $12,193.99.

The second annual Easy Livin' 50-hour beach house event took place from August 17-19, 2018. They began the stream with a full playthrough of Metal Gear Solid and closed it out with a tournament in Sonic the Fighters. They also introduced three new Patreon goals during Easy Livin' 2018 which included Full Play-through Friday, Huber's Game Show, and a Live Guest Show.

The series premiere of the highly-anticipated Box Peek first aired on October 26, 2018. The first five episodes were released weekly along with accompanying Q&A livestreams with creator Kyle Bosman and a special season finale livestream with voice actor Amanda Troop.

Deliberations and results for the 2018 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 15, 2019. Once again, new categories were added to the existing slate of awards. The 2018 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to God of War, developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio.

### The Studio (2019-present)

#### Moving into The Studio, Mysterious Monsters, Phase 4 (2019)

    On June 21, 2018, Easy Allies reached a set Patreon goal of $50,000 per month to acquire a studio. They announced they were moving into a studio on December 4, 2018 and officially moved production on January 29, 2019. They christened the studio with a video tour and Studio Launch Party that included a playthrough of Monopoly Plus for PlayStation 4. Facilities include a main stage for filming podcasts and produced content, control room for the main stage, a streaming stage with multiple couches, an office area, library, and green room.

Ahead of their third anniversary, Easy Allies premiered their original trivia game show Mysterious Monsters on March 19, 2019. Players have to fight monsters in an RPG-like battle screen, answer trivia questions in a variety of topics, and compete against each other to win the most gold by the end of the final round. The game show is hosted by Michael Huber, designed by Isla Hinck, and programmed by developer Jason Wishnov from Iridium Studios.

For the third anniversary live celebration, they decided to forego doing another concert in favor of the Mysterious Monster Mash, a live version of the trivia game show. The show took place on March 23, 2019 at Tommy's Place on the USC Campus once again. They invited members of the community in the live audience to compete as contestants and wrapped up the show with a video game karaoke medley performed by Isla Hinck. They also streamed an 8-hour Third Year Anniversary Celebration featuring a variety games in The Studio.

The Patreon-exclusive show Achieve It Yourself! debuted on May 23, 2019. Hosted by Kyle Bosman, Patrons submit made-up Nintendo achievements for the Allies to attempt. The first episode was made available to the public while the rest of the episodes were exclusive to Patrons. Due to the show's success, a second season was later green-lit and made available to the public with Patrons getting episodes a week early.

The third annual Easy Livin' 50-hour beach house event took place from July 26-28, 2019. They began the stream with a full playthrough of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and ended it with the 2019 Crash Bash Olympics. Brandon Jones was not able to attend due to the birth of his son, Milo.

Easy Allies made their Phase 4 Announcements on August 13, 2019. While they dealt with the professional transition of moving into the studio and personal events affecting some of the Allies, they decided to take a step back and survey the community to get feedback on the future of Easy Allies. Among the announced changes were the removal of Patreon goals, streaming together in the studio more often, the addition of the $15 Stream Team Patreon tier, updates to existing shows, and the introduction of new/returning shows. Updates to existing shows included Huber taking time off from Huber Syndrome, Ben putting Tabletop Escapades on hiatus, both Top 10s and Game Sleuth ending production, and Trailer Jones changing its format to individual trailer discussions. Returning shows included Don's Design Lab, Box Peek, Don't Skip, and Achieve It Yourself! Season 2. New shows announced were The Occasional Board Game Show, Together We RPG, and Huber's Prison of Love.

    Don's Design Lab made its return as an Easy Allies production on September 5, 2019. Announced as part of the returning shows during the Phase 4 Announcements, the show was revived with the release of Super Mario Maker 2 for Nintendo Switch. The format was updated so that Don assembles the allies to create, test, and finalize a level in the game.

The final five episodes of Box Peek first premiered on November 8, 2019. Similar to the first five episodes, each episode debuted weekly along with an accompanying Q&A livestream with creator Kyle Bosman. The final live Q&A was once again accompanied by voice actor Amanda Troop and featured a retrospective on the series as a whole and the journey to create all ten episodes.

Huber's Prison of Love hosted by Michael Huber debuted on December 4, 2019. The show was first announced during the Phase 4 Announcements as a temporary replacement for Huber Syndrome while it went on a short hiatus. In each episode, Huber locked up fellow Allies in a room with a game he loves.

Deliberations and results for the 2019 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 28, 2020. A few more categories were introduced while a couple of categories made their return after an absence. The 2019 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, developed by FromSoftware.

#### Global pandemic, EZX Digital, Kyle's departure, Patron Party (2020)

Easy Allies held a Magic: The Gathering fundraiser tournament on February 19, 2020 to benefit disaster relief in Australia. Australian actor Luke Arnold stopped by The Studio to provide guest commentary with Brandon Jones and Bradley Ellis and show support for the cause. Michael Damiani was the technical director managing the switcher for the tournament while Isla Hinck, Michael Huber, Ben Moore, and Daniel Bloodworth were the competitors in the tournament. They set a $10,000 goal for their GlobalGiving campaign supporting the Australia Relief Project and raised a total of $7,225.

On March 13, 2020, Kyle Bosman announced via Patreon post that he would be departing from Easy Allies the following month, citing that he needed to find his life's "main thing." In the same post, he mentioned that the Easy Allies Podcast would be hosted by Jones and that Damiani would take over as producer for Achieve it Yourself.

Later that same month, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Easy Allies to halt production at the studio and work from home. This put shows such as the trivia game show Mysterious Monsters on hold while other podcasts, shows, and streams had to be updated to accommodate working from home. This included utilizing Zoom for video conferencing along with other sharing and watch-along software.

The global pandemic also changed their plans for their annual Easy Allies anniversary celebration. While they previously held the Easy Allies in Concert live shows and Mysterious Monster Mash in prior celebrations, March 22, 2020 was the original date for EZX, a four-hour live community group stream to play games together in person with members of the community. The event transformed into EZX Digital, a 6-day online event with 8+ hour streams from March 22-27, 2020. Due to the stay-at-home order, the schedule shifted from a studio-focused event to playing individually at home.

    Kyle's final day at Easy Allies was on April 24, 2020. Due to the stay-at-home order, previous studio plans to commemorate Kyle's time with Easy Allies had to be adjusted. While he wrapped up shows, streams, appearances, and responsibilities, his final piece of content was a special episode of the Easy Allies Podcast where Kyle discussed the podcast's future with Jones as he took over hosting duties.

Easy Allies held a special four-hour George Floyd Memorial Fundraiser Group Stream Night on June 2, 2020 to directly benefit the George Floyd Memorial Fund and support the Black Lives Matter movement. They set an initial $4,000 fundraising goal at the start of the stream and raised a total of $25,447.21 by the end of the stream. The Allies played Minecraft Dungeons and Sea of Thieves for two hours each during the fundraiser.

The limited series Hunting Huber officially premiered on June 10, 2020. In each episode, Allies take turns hunting down a severely disadvantaged Michael Huber in a different game. Originally starting from a Punished Bet between Kyle and Huber, the idea evolved into its own standalone show. Similar to Achieve It Yourself! Season 2, Patrons received episodes a week early.

On September 17, 2020, Easy Allies announced that as part of their partnership with Roost, some of their series were launching on RoosterTeeth.com. Starting October 21, recent episodes of the Easy Allies Podcast, Frame Trap, Box Peek, Achieve It Yourself!, and Mysterious Monsters would be featured on the site. These shows were selected to serve as an introduction to Easy Allies and for the overall fit with Rooster Teeth's audiences. New episodes of ongoing shows will still be posted around the same schedule on the Easy Allies YouTube channel and podcast feeds.

Easy Allies announced a special week-long event called Patron Party 2020 on October 1, 2020. As a thank you for all the support they received throughout 2020, they planned a multitude of events that took place from October 19-24, 2020. Throughout the week, they premiered new shows, added bonuses to existing Patreon reward tiers, and wrapped it up with an 8-hour live stream on October 24. They also posted an announcement video thanking the Patrons and community. On the first day of Patron Party, they announced the schedule and perks for the week of celebration. Despite removing Patreon goals last year during the Phase 4 Announcements, they also provided a point of reference for what different levels of support will allow them to do in the future.

New show premieres during Patron Party 2020 included The Gen That Was, Mini-Game Champions, and the Patreon-exclusive Show and Tell. Easy Allies also posted a special Farewell video to the Garage as Brandon moved out of his house and said goodbye to the place where Easy Allies started.  During the 8-hour livestream finale, it was also announced that Huber would be getting his revenge in a second season of Hunting Huber.

In October 2020, they started producing next-gen console coverage in The Studio for the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Coverage included console unboxing videos, hands-on previews, final console hardware impressions, launch title reviews, and livestream coverage.

Deliberations and results for the 2020 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 26, 2021. The majority of the categories returned from the previous year while others expanded in scope. The 2020 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to Half-Life: Alyx, developed by Valve.

#### EZX Digital '21, back to The Studio, Easy Chillin', charities (2021)

On February 1, 2021, Achieve It Yourself! producer Michael Damiani announced on Patreon that the series was returning for a third season with new episodes being recorded and produced remotely due to the ongoing global pandemic. They began accepting submissions for new made-up Nintendo achievements with the request that ideas reflect games that are more readily available on Switch to accommodate working from home.

Isla posted a Patreon announcement on February 10 that Fiasconauts was moving off the monthly rotation and shifting to a more occasional special event release schedule. In its place on the monthly schedule was the re-introduction of the Easy Update segment, The Fast & Loose Internet Talk Show as its own standalone Patreon exclusive show. With the shift to its own show, $5 and up Patrons are able to ask questions which Isla will choose at random without reading them beforehand. New episodes are scheduled to premiere at the end of each month on Patreon.

Hitman 3 developer IO Interactive announced a special collaboration with Easy Allies on March 4, 2021. As part of Hitman 3's March content roadmap, Michael Huber, Isla Hinck, and Brandon Jones cooked up some Featured Contracts in the Chongqing map. The Easy Allies x Chongqing Featured Contracts were released on March 11, 2021.

On March 12, 2021, Easy Allies announced a schedule change for Frame Trap and Friend Code. Moving forward, both shows were changed to release for early access on Mondays and and go public on Wednesdays on opposite weeks. This update was made to spread them out from each other as well as the Easy Allies Podcast and other shows.

    Easy Allies also announced EZX Digital '21, a five-day anniversary celebration across Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon starting on March 22, 2021. Each day featured extended bonus streams on top of their regular schedule, including the return of Weekly Hunts with Monster Hunter Rise, It Takes Two playthrough with Bloodworth and Jones, the first Hall of Greats Induction of 2021, and much more. New show premieres during EZX Digital '21 included Achieve It Yourself! Season 3 and a brand new show hosted by Brandon Jones about meditation and mindfulness titled Mindful Games. An update was also provided on Mini-Game Champions, with the rest of the series set to premiere following the season finale of Achieve It Yourself. A new monthly segment titled Trash Babies was also announced alongside the soundtrack discussion series, Soundtrack Club.

Changes to the benefits on Patreon were also planned with additional features being added to their crowded-funding community. New t-shirts and posters were also added to their merchandise catalog thanks to the continuing relationship with Rooster Teeth. A fundraiser was hosted the whole week to produce even more content throughout the year. Progress was charted across Twitch subs, Patreon pledges, and PayPal donations, with special rewards being delivered when certain goals were met in the form of new special features and big event live-streams. By the end of EZX Digital '21, they surpassed their final $25,000 fundraising goal with a total of $26,358 raised for Easy Allies content and operations.

In May 2021, Isla Hinck publicly came out as a trans woman and a lesbian on Twitter and Easy Update. She specified her pronouns as She/They, revealed her new name, and gave some background information on her journey. She also answered questions from Patreon in a follow-up AMA episode of Easy Update.

On May 25, 2021, Easy Allies announced during their weekly Group Stream Night and in a subsequent Patreon post that they would officially be returning to The Studio as a group on June 10, 2021. The date coincided with all of the Allies being fully vaccinated and COVID-cleared as well as the first day of E3 2021. Following E3, they revealed their first studio group stream of 2021 would be on June 15th and a Return to the Studio Marathon stream would be held on June 18th to celebrate coming home.

    Easy Allies announced on August 16 that the 2021 successor to Easy Livin' would be an event called Easy Chillin'. Instead of a 50-hour beach house event, it was a three-day marathon stream from The Studio. From September 3-5, the Allies streamed each day from Noon to Midnight PT. The event included several Intramural Tournaments, a few stream favorites, and the return of Jolly Co-op where several Allies play a game cooperatively using a single controller.

Their 6th annual Halloween Party was held on October 26, 2021. The 6-hour charity stream featured the Allies dressing up in Halloween costumes and playing a variety of spooky games as part of the Spooktacular Streamathon 2021 benefitting Gamers Outreach. Ahead of the Halloween Party, they debuted their new "Making a Monster" t-shirt designed by Josh Ketchen. The shirt is based around Defaulte-Giga, the created wrestler initially featured in one of their Group Stream Night streams and continued on into Easy Chillin' due to its popularity.

On October 27, Game Informer, MinnMax, and Easy Allies announced they were coming together for a massive 25-hour Extra Life 2021 charity stream benefitting Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. Starting on November 6 at 6 AM PT, they played a variety of games and auctioned off game codes and special items. One of the auction bundles included a physical GameTrailers Game of the Year 2007 trophy for Devil May Cry 4, which actually released in 2008.

Deliberations and results for the 2021 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 25, 2022. Genre categories were removed from this year's awards while most of the other categories returned. The 2021 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to Returnal, developed by Housemarque.

#### Phase Infinity, Brandon's retirement, community manager, Ben's departure (2022)

On February 21, 2022, Brandon Jones announced on Cup of Jones and Twitter that he was taking a leave of absence from Easy Allies to support his family following his son, Milo being hospitalized. He revealed that his day-to-day involvement would be sporadic while productions like the Easy Allies Podcast and Community Showcase would be hosted by Bloodworth and Damiani, respectively.

    In early March 2022, Easy Allies announced EZX 2022, their six-year anniversary weeklong celebration and the third annual EZX event. The event kicked off on March 21 and was the first EZX to take place in The Studio. Events included an EZA fundraiser with fundraising goals along with the announcement of Phase Infinity. Numerous fundraising goals were revealed and they raised more than $26,000 for their EZX fundraiser and reached over $34,000 per month on Patreon. Similar to EZX Digital '21, an EZX 2022 Bonus Tracker was posted on Patreon with continual updates planned as incentives get produced over the coming weeks.

Among the announcements was that Brandon Jones was retiring from Easy Allies and games journalism.  Brandon Jones announced on March 21, 2022 during EZX 2022 that he was retiring from Easy Allies and games journalism on May 1, 2022. He cited personal reasons, mentioning plans to be a stay-at-home Dad, maybe do some voiceover, and maybe write a book. He also stated that it would be nearly two decades since the birth of GameTrailers and his start in games journalism and he felt it was time to move on. For Easy Allies content, he mentioned being on one more Easy Allies Podcast episode, one more Community Showcase, and try to be on as many streams as he can. He made this decision in July 2021 and stated he would be available for Easy Allies voiceover as needed.

    A rebrand of Easy Allies was also launched on March 21 with a new logo and colors while also staying close to the original identity. Bloodworth and Isla were also announced as the new co-heads of Easy Allies to help steer the ship and create a more solidified structure to navigate the business a little quicker. Damiani and Brad are taking the lead on streaming with more fun ideas, betting, and interaction planned with Chat. Ben is also joining Bloodworth in copy editing reviews. YouTube thumbnails, titles, Patreon, and Twitch are also getting updated looks along with expanded social media presence, new Twitch emotes, stream alerts, and updates to the EasyAllies.com website. A community manager is also being hired.

With Bloodworth also as the permanent host of the Easy Allies Podcast, additional changes are being made to the format. Among them are getting rid of the set rotation of Allies and bringing in specific Allies most qualified to discuss certain stories and picking topics more tailored to the panel's interests. The review format was also slightly changing with tests having review writers do their own VO and do a more personal voice in reviews rather than the editorial "We" that has been done in the past.

Patreon goals were also brought back with goals set at $35k, $40k, and $45k. The $35k goal is called *Easy Allies Engaged* and is part of a new series of streams called Hang Out Streams. Starting on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11AM PT, one of the Allies will hang out with the community to discuss news, trailer reactions, and just having a relaxed time with the community. If the goal is reached, the streams will occur every weekday. The $40k goal is called *Easy Allies Endures* and is the amount of money to comfortably continue Easy Allies operations. If this goal is reached, there will be a big marathon stream, but the goal is more about meeting day to day needs. The $45k goal is *Easy Allies Enhanced* and is the party tier. Incentives include quarterly parties, tournaments, more diverse content, hiring freelancers, and more post shows.

Patreon reward tiers were also overhauled with future-exclusive shows being moved to the $5 and up tier while also gaining access to a Patron-only Discord server that the community manager will help manage. Tiermaker was also moving from monthly to quarterly while the Patron Q&A was being retired at the $20 and up tier in favor of Behind the Scenes. This gives Patrons a look at live tapings of their show and podcasts. The $50 and up digital fan mail tier is also expanding to include special physical gifts that includes things like fun and weird art from artists within the community. Blood Pact is being retired at the $60 and up tier but in its place is the Golden Voice tier where Patrons can have Brandon Jones read just about anything within reason, similar to a Cameo. The $200 and up DnD tier was also being retired and transformed into a private gaming session with the Allies. An additional $500 and up Everthing\* Producer tier is also being introduced where producer credits are attached to almost every piece of Easy Allies produced content. The $1000 Goddess tier is a step above that except they get their own name card in sparkly letters and they also receive doodles from the Allies every month.

    On May 1, 2022, Brandon Jones officially retired from Easy Allies and games journalism. The original plans for his final days and weeks as part of EZA had to be changed due to the personal circumstances of his son's hospitalization, but he still made the rounds appearing on the Easy Allies Podcast, Frame Trap, Easy Update, the Community Showcase, Friend Code, and Group Stream Night. The final episode of Cup of Jones was also released and made available to the public. Jones announced he would still be involved with Easy Allies as a guest during occasional streams and shows as well as freelancing for Easy Allies in content such as reviews and the Golden Voice Patron tier. He also promised to stream specific games with each Ally in The Studio in the coming weeks and months as part of the Brandon Jones Invitationals.

Easy Allies kicked off their Summer Game Fest 2022 coverage early with an impromptu Off the Cuff State of Play Betting Special on May 31, 2022. They followed it up with a full SGF 2022 Betting Special and featured reactions for all of the major showcases as well as hands-on impressions from the in-person SGF Play Days show floor from Blood and Ben. Summer Game Fest coverage will culminate in a dual Betting Special results show for both State of Play and SGF as a whole.

On June 16, 2022, Easy Allies officially hired Gabrielle Montoute as their new community manager. They announced their intention to hire a community manager during EZX 2022 and began their search in May 2022. After a lengthy process of more than 70 applicants, many interviews, and both written and video tests, Gabby was selected. She has previously guest appeared in previous Easy Allies content and has been a longtime fan of EZA and GT. She has experience in social media, community management, film and tv production, and post-production. Her responsibilities will include running the Patrons Discord server, helping to manage the EZA social media accounts with Isla and Blood, and review analytics and viewer data to help guide Easy Allies. An episode of Easy Update reintroduced Gabby to help the community get to know her better.

On June 21, 2022, Ben announced he was leaving Easy Allies on July 1 due to his wife getting a new job back in his home state of Iowa. He cited that he and his wife were wanting to advance to the next stage of their lives and how they wanted to spend more quality time with loved ones. It was also announced that the Frame Trap podcast would continue with Bradley Ellis as the new host and Damiani as co-host. During his final week as part of Easy Allies, he made final appearances on Group Stream Night, Stream Team, Fast & Loose Internet Talk Show, and the Easy Allies Podcast. A special "Best of Ben" playlist was also created featuring over 26 hours of Ben content submitted by the community on Twitter.

    In August 2022, Easy Allies announced the return of Easy Chillin' from September 9-11. This would be the second Easy Chillin' event following the three Easy Livin' beach house events held from 2017-2019. Planned events include tournaments, wheel-spins, super special guests, achievements, and more.

On August 30, 2022, Easy Allies also officially announced plans to bring back Achieve It Yourself! for a fourth season in Fall 2022. This also marked the return of the show being recorded in person, which lifted restrictions on the type of achievements that were able to be submitted. Damiani reviewed feedback on S3 and planned some slight structure changes to the show along with submissions requiring video proof of the submitted achievement both to verify it's possible and to show the contestants how it's done by pros in case of a failed achievement.

That same day, Bloodworth also announced changes were being made to Patron Exclusives. Updates included new releases of Spoiler Mode being made public, a new sub-series called **Spoiler Mode Retro** feeaturing older content, new episodes of Trash Babies and Achieve It Yourself! being made public, and both shows receiving extended cuts for $5 and up Patrons. Older episodes would also be remaining on the $1 and up Patron tier. The Behind the Scenes tier also saw changes with the Easy Allies Podcast being recorded live on Twitch for the public.

Deliberations and results for the 2022 Easy Allies Awards were aired on January 31, 2023. Most of the categories carried over from last year's awards. The 2022 Easy Allies Game of the Year Award was given to Elden Ring, developed by FromSoftware.

#### Patreon changes, EZX, SGF, Easy Chillin', Damiani remote, Brad's departure (2023)

On January 11, 2023, Easy Allies shadow dropped SUNK: An Easy Allies Battleship Tournament. This new intramural tournament series is produced and hosted by Pirate Don Casanova. In this competition, the other six Allies compete against each other in a digital version of Battleship where players can accrue energy and use a variety of abilities to help detect and destroy your opponent's battleships.

In February 2023, Easy Allies began their hands-on coverage of the PlayStation VR2. Isla and Brad showed off the hardware in an unboxing video along with hands-on impressions of the hardware and games. Damiani also opened up submissions for Achieve It Yourself! Season 5.

In March 2023, Easy Allies made some changes to their Patreon Tiers following the survey feedback. To make them less bloated and confusing, they brought down the number of tiers down from 15 to 8 and made the $5 and $10 tiers the most attractive options. Changes included some benefits moving up and down the tier list.

    EZX 2023 was the 7th anniversary celebration of Easy Allies and took place from March 27-31. On the first day of EZX '23, they posted the kickoff video that included all of the announcements, incentives, events, and fundraiser goals. In addition to the Patreon tier shakeup, updates included new shows and streams, Huber Syndrome going back to Huber Hype, the return of Easy Allies Q&A with the new Hot Mics call-in segment, fundraising incentives, and more. By the end of EZX 2023, they raised $25,719 for their fundraiser which knocked out all of the fundraising goals.

Gabby's Never Seen was one of the new series announced during EZX 2023. In April 2023, a poll was posted on Patreon to let Patrons pick what movie Gabby should watch for the first episode. The Matrix won the poll and the show officially debuted on April 15, 2023.

    A new season of Betting Specials kicked off with an off the cuff PlayStation Showcase 2023 Betting Special on May 23, 2023. All seven Allies competed against each other with Punished Bets stakes being the loser will have to bake the winner a cake and upon delivery, sing a song of their choosing. Extra credit will be given for filming a vlog of the baking process.

The Summer Game Fest 2023 Betting Special was hosted by Huber and Brad and included the new Triple Down on Don bet. For the stakes, the winner will receive a royal coronation from Brad and Huber as the judges. The loser with the least amount of points must be the winner's jester during the coronation day/stream. Damiani won the Betting Special while Don had the least amount of points. However, Don is planning to dispute the results in EZA Court.

    Summer Game Fest 2023 coverage kicked off with reactions, multiple days of impressions from the show-floor, podcasts, and more. Ben Starr, the English voice of Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI, stopped by The Studio for Group Stream Night to hang out and play the FFXVI demo. Ben Starr later returned as a featured guest on Frame Trap to discuss Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest, Baldur's Gate 3, Sea of Stars demo, and more.

Easy Allies hosted the second annual EZA House Party on August 8, 2023 in honor of Daniel Bloodworth taking another two-week vacation. The house party was themed around a college frat party invitation from Epsilon Zeta Alpha along with the cat/mice theme from the first EZA House Party.

The third annual Easy Chillin' was hosted from August 25-27. They made a post on Easy Chillin' Updates, Schedule, and Goals which included plans to improve consistency on Twitch and focusing the YouTube channel. The event also featured chill hangs, spooky games, co-op games, competitions, as well as the return of the fundraiser and activities like Jenga that featured various tasks the Allies had to complete.

In October 2023, it was announced that Damiani was shifting to a remote position and moving back to Texas to be closer to family. This include the birth of Robamiani on the Easy Allies Podcast, a robot version of Damiani at the desk. He also brought up plans for a new weekend live talk show with guests to talk about a single topic.

Easy Allies announced changes coming in 2024, including the shift to a part-time role and future plans for content and schedule changes. This also came with the announcement that Brad was leaving Easy Allies for another opportunity. His final day was on December 18 where they filmed the final episode of Frame Trap and streamed his last official Group Stream Night. As part of the announcements, gaming discussions will live on in the Easy Allies Podcast.

## Current Operations

Easy Allies operates out of Los Angeles, California. Their primary source of content is their editorial coverage. This includes their video game reviews, which are written and edited by different Allies and narrated by Brandon Jones. They also handle pre-release previews and post-release impressions for games that aren't covered in other formats.

In addition to publishing editorial coverage, they also produce a multitude of podcasts and shows primarily focused on video games such as the Easy Allies Podcast. At times, they also cover other passions like movies, anime, and TV shows.

They stream regularly on Twitch which includes their weekly Group Stream Night that gathers most of the Allies to play a game together. In addition to playing games, they also stream and release their live reactions to video game reveals and events such as E3. Live streams have also been utilized to solicit donations for charity from their fans for a variety of good causes.

Easy Allies has served as a voting jury member for The Game Awards since 2017, and participated as a judge for the 2018 and 2019 Game Critic Awards.

## Staff

The members of Easy Allies are typically referred to as Allies. There have also been special guests that are considered Honorary Allies by the Easy Allies community but are not employees.

### Allies

* Daniel Bloodworth (March 21, 2016 – present, Co-Head)
* Isla Hinck (March 21, 2016 – present, Co-Head)
* Don Casanova (March 21, 2016 – present, Editor/Producer)
* Michael Damiani (March 21, 2016 – present, Writer/Producer)
* Michael Huber (March 21, 2016 – present, Writer/Producer)
* Gabby Montoute (June 16, 2022 - present, Community Manager)

### Former Allies

* Kyle Bosman (March 21, 2016 – April 24, 2020, Producer)
* Brandon Jones (March 21, 2016 – May 1, 2022, Editor-In-Chief)
* Ben Moore (March 21, 2016 – July 1, 2022, Writer/Producer)
* Bradley Ellis (March 21, 2016 – December 18, 2023, Writer/Producer)

### Departures

On March 13, 2020, Kyle Bosman announced via Patreon post that he would be departing from Easy Allies the following month, citing that he needed to find his life's "main thing." In the same post, he mentioned that the Easy Allies Podcast would be hosted by Jones and that Damiani would take over as producer for Achieve it Yourself. April 24, 2020 was his final day at Easy Allies in which they filmed a special episode of the Podcast where Kyle discussed the podcast's future with Jones as he took over hosting duties.

Brandon Jones announced on March 21, 2022 during EZX 2022 that he was retiring from Easy Allies and games journalism on May 1, 2022. He cited personal reasons, mentioning plans to be a stay-at-home Dad, maybe do some voiceover, and maybe write a book. He also stated that it would be nearly two decades since the birth of GameTrailers and his start in games journalism and he felt it was time to move on. For Easy Allies content, he mentioned being on one more Easy Allies Podcast episode, one more Community Showcase, and try to be on as many streams as he can. He made this decision in July 2021 and stated he would be available for Easy Allies voiceover as needed.

On June 21, 2022, Ben announced he was leaving Easy Allies on July 1 due to his wife getting a new job back in his home state of Iowa. He cited that he and his wife were wanting to advance to the next stage of their lives and how they wanted to spend more quality time with loved ones. It was also announced that the Frame Trap podcast would continue with Bradley Ellis as the new host. During his final week as part of Easy Allies, he made final appearances on Group Stream Night, Stream Team, Fast & Loose Internet Talk Show, and the Easy Allies Podcast. A special "Best of Ben" playlist was also created featuring over 26 hours of Ben content submitted by the community on Twitter.

In December 2023, Easy Allies announced changes coming in 2024. This also came with the announcement that Brad was leaving Easy Allies for another opportunity. His final day was on December 18 where they filmed the final episode of Frame Trap and streamed his last official Group Stream Night. As part of the announcements, gaming discussions will live on in the Easy Allies Podcast.

### Arrivals

On June 16, 2022, Easy Allies officially hired Gabby Montoute as their new community manager. They announced their intention to hire a community manager during EZX 2022 and began their search in May 2022. After a lengthy process of more than 70 applicants, many interviews, and both written and video tests, Gabby was selected. She has previously guest appeared in previous Easy Allies content and has been a longtime fan of EZA and GT. She has experience in social media, community management, film and tv production, and post-production. Her responsibilities will include running the Patrons Discord server, helping to manage the EZA social media accounts with Isla and Blood, and review analytics and viewer data to help guide Easy Allies. An episode of Easy Update reintroduced Gabby to help the community get to know her better.

## Content

Easy Allies produces a multitude of podcasts, shows, and streams. Below is just a sampling of content that is featured.

### Editorial Coverage

Easy Allies is an independent media outlet including critics who have been writing about games for decades. In order to facilitate coverage, they maintain contacts throughout the video game industry, including major publishers, public relations agencies, and independent developers. These relationships allow them access to advance copies of games for the sake of review or preview, and in some cases include travel accommodations to see games that are still in development.

Coverage of any game remains their sole discretion regardless of access provided by a publisher, including negative coverage or the potential for no coverage whatsoever if they determine something else to be of higher priority.

They do not accept payment or gifts in exchange for editorial coverage, especially reviews.

In the case that a video game publisher desires to sponsor their podcasts, that sponsorship will be limited and clear. Any game included in such sponsorship will be excluded from consideration for reviews and awards. However, they may still discuss it in less definitive forms of non-sponsored content.

The trust of their audience is of utmost importance to Easy Allies, and they strive to maintain honesty and integrity in all their editorial coverage.

**Game of the Year**

The winners below include both GameTrailers (2005–2015) and Easy Allies (2016-present) selections.

### Podcasts

The current ongoing podcasts that releases weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly.

### Streams

Regular and archived streams featured on both Twitch and YouTube.

### Shows

A variety of ongoing series that release both weekly and monthly along with limited run and seasonal shows. Some of the shows produced are Patreon-exclusive for the $1 and up tier.

**Weekly**

**Monthly**

**Limited Run / Seasonal**

## External Links

* Official website
	+ Patreon Exclusives
* Patreon
* Merch
* YouTube
	+ Main Channel
	+ Easy Allies Plays
* Twitch
* Official Twitter - @easyallies
	+ Daniel Bloodworth - @dbloodworth2
	+ Don Casanova - @thenasacova
	+ Michael Damiani - @damianicus
	+ Isla Hinck - @IslaHinck
	+ Michael Huber - @MichaelPHuber
	+ Gabby Montoute - @gmontoute
* Facebook
* Instagram
* TikTok
* Rooster Teeth
	+ Easy Allies Podcast
	+ Frame Trap
	+ Box Peek
	+ Mysterious Monsters
	+ Achieve It Yourself!
* Discord
	+ Patreon Discord
* SoundCloud
	+ Easy Allies
	+ Frame Trap
	+ Friend Code
	+ Reaction Shots
	+ Fiasconauts
	+ Tabletop Escapades
	+ Isla Hinck

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Back to the Studio! on Patreon
2. ↑ Welcome to Easy Allies Phase Infinity
3. ↑ Easy Allies Launch Marathon (Part 1) on YouTube
4. ↑ Fund This: Former GameTrailers Gang Hits Patreon To Raise $40K Per Month As “Easy Allies” on Tubefilter
5. ↑ How Easy Allies Became One of the Highest Earning Creators Overnight on Patreon Blog
6. ↑ IGN acquires GameTrailers, will maintain archive of all content on Polygon
7. ↑ GameTrailers - GT Time on YouTube
8. ↑ Anniversary Announcement Wrap-Up on Patreon
9. ↑ Isla and Brandon's Home Studio Tips and Tricks! - Easy Update on YouTube
10. ↑ Our Review Scores Are Changing on YouTube
11. ↑ New Gear! - 4K! - Isla and Brandon's Home Studio Tips and Tricks! - Easy Update on YouTube
12. ↑ EZA Game Day 2018 on Tiltify
13. ↑ Studio Launch Party! on YouTube
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Easy Allies Phase 4 Announcements on Patreon
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Bad News: An Announcement from Kyle on Patreon
16. ↑ Easy Allies George Floyd Memorial Fundraiser (Pt 1) - Minecraft Dungeons on YouTube
17. ↑ Easy Allies George Floyd Memorial Fundraiser (Pt 2) - Sea of Thieves on Youtube
18. ↑ Easy Allies Videos Coming to RoosterTeeth.com on Patreon
19. ↑ Patron Party 2020 Announcement on Patreon
20. ↑ Welcome to the Patron Party! - All You Need to Know on Patreon
21. ↑ Farewell to the Garage on YouTube
22. ↑ Revenge! - Hunting Huber Season 2 Promo on YouTube
23. ↑ Achieve It Yourself! Season 3 Submissions on Patreon
24. ↑ "The Sun Sets (Partially) for Fiasconauts and Rises on Fast & Loose" on Patreon on Patreon
25. ↑ HITMAN 3 – March Roadmap - IO Interactive
26. ↑ Schedule Change for Frame Trap and Friend Code on Patreon
27. ↑ EZX Digital ‘21 - March 22 to March 26 on Patreon
28. ↑ EZX Digital '21 Merch! on Patreon
29. ↑ Isla Hinck on Twitter
30. ↑ Ask Isla Anything - Easy Update on YouTube
31. ↑ "Join Game Informer, MinnMax, and Easy Allies For Extra Life 2021 Charity Stream!" on Game Informer
32. ↑ Cup of Jones - February 21, 2022
33. ↑ Brandon Jones on Twitter
34. ↑ "EZX 2022 Bonus Tracker" on Patreon
35. ↑ "Welcome to Easy Allies Phase Infinity" on Patreon
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Brandon Jones on Twitter
37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 "The Community Manager Search is over!" on Patreon
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Meet Our New Community Manager!" on YouTube
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "A Farewell Message from Ben" on Patreon
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Best of Ben Playlist" on YouTube
41. ↑ Achieve It Yourself! Season 4 Submissions
42. ↑ Tiers Have Changed - The Great Patreon Shakeup!
43. ↑ "This is my waifu." On Twitter
44. ↑ Thanks for a Rockin’ EZX
45. ↑ 🍿 Gabby's Never Seen - First Episode Poll
46. ↑ List of Game of the Year awards: Easy Allies (formerly GameTrailers) on Wikipedia