Joystiq group, Crecente to form VOX Games - details

VOX Media CEO Jim Bankoff has announced on Twitter that the recently departed group of Joystiq journalists, as well as ex-Kotaku editor Brian Crecente, have joined the group.

Crecente, as well as Chris Grant and the McElroy brothers - Griffin and Justin - will create VOX's games portal, currently known as the placeholder VOX Games.

Also onboard is ex-Escapist editor Russ Pitts, former UGO games editor Chris Plante, ex-MTV Multiplayer editor Russ Frushtick and former Joystiq previews editor Arthur Gies.

Crecente departed Kotaku yesterday, while Grant, Gies and the McElroys left Joystiq over the christmas break.

"In terms of hiring these editors, I thought it would be harder than it was — I thought the idea of putting a lot of chefs in the kitchen would be unpalatable to a lot of people," Grant told Business Insider. "But I found the opposite to be true."

Until construction on the new website is finished, the group will be posting on tech site The Verge.