Chris Grant, McElroy brothers leave Joystiq, Kietzmann takes boss job

Chris Grant has left his role as editor-in-chief of AOL-owned Joystiq, with the McElroy brothers - Griffin and Justin - also exiting the site.

News of Grant's departure was first made public on a Tumblr blog by Engadget editor Darren Murph, who said he was "headed over to Vox Media to start its gaming vertical."

Vox Media is the home of tech site The Verge, founded by ex-Engadget editor Joshua Topolsky in November 2011, and staffed by ex-staff of the AOL/Huffington-owned site.

Grant hasn't actually confirmed where he's ending up next, but said in his departure post on Joystiq that "video game media is changing and has been changing for as long as I can remember and there's one simple reason for that: the readers."

He added: "Weaned on innovation and excellence, video game players are practically bred to be the most critical, passionate, and invested audience imaginable. There is no harsher critic or stronger supporter and that investment will continue to lead to great things."

Also confirming their departures from Joystiq were Justin McElroy as managing editor and brother Griffin as reviews editor, as did previews editor Arthur Gies.

Grant's replacement will be South Africa-based Ludwig Kietzmann, who will take on the role after a full-time move to the US. He was previously senior editor.

JC Fletcher will take over as managing editor from Justin McElroy, while Richard Mitchell will become reviews editor from Griffin McElroy.

Boston-based Alexander Sliwinski will take over as news editor, while Ben Gilbert will report to him as senior reporter.

Site writers Dave Hinkle, Jordan Mallory and Jess Conditt also get bumped-up positions.