Starting Monday, February 6, I will be a full-time reporter at the Gawker Media blog Kotaku, where I will be covering stories in gaming news and culture.

This is an extremely exciting opportunity for me. As one of the biggest websites in the industry, with a gigantic, loyal readership that includes just about every gamer on the planet, Kotaku will be a fantastic platform for my work and an excellent place for me to write, learn, and report. In other words, I can’t fucking wait.

I’m stoked to start working under new editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo, whose writing I have followed and respected for a very long time. I’m also psyched to be able to work with and learn from the likes of Kirk Hamilton, Evan Narcisse, and the many other experienced writers and reporters at Kotaku.

Though I can’t say I’ve loved every story that Kotaku has posted over the years, that didn’t stop me from wanting to be join the team — in fact, it’s part of why I wanted to join the team. Kotaku is a forum for a diverse variety of unique voices, and much of its success has drawn from its willingness to publish things that other gaming sites wouldn’t necessarily publish. Sometimes it’s progressive. Sometimes it’s radical. And sometimes, it will publish stories I don’t like or agree with. That’s okay. That’s part of the fun.

Of course, this new position means that I have to relinquish my role at Wired.com, which I will miss quite a bit. Working with Game|Life editor Chris Kohler has been nothing short of fantastic, and I’m eternally thankful both for the opportunities he’s given me and the sheer amount of knowledge that he’s hammered into my brain. To any aspiring writers or journalists out there, you should know that working with him is the best education you can get.

But I leave Wired.com with plenty of great memories. Like the time I spent three days talking to researchers and professors to try to figure out why media personality Carole Lieberman said videogames cause rape. Or talking to GameStop employees across the country about the terrible ways in which they treat their products. Or pissing off a large chunk of the Internet when I told the world to relax about that Dead Island trailer.

Chatting with Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert about Game Dev Story was an absolute delight, as was talking to industry experts about how to make videogames more accessible to handicapped gamers. I had a blast thinking about auteur theory in videogames and going through endless YouTube clips to dissect the way game designers approach cut-scenes. Writing and reporting for Wired.com has been a wonderful experience.

But now it’s time for a change. Starting Monday, I’ll be moving from the not-so-fancy office in my living room to Gawker’s super-fancy office in SoHo with the rest of Team Kotaku NYC. So here’s to chasing new stories. Here’s to a new adventure. And, sadly, here’s to having to wear pants to work.