I’ve been reading everyone’s incredibly moving posts over the last 2 months, thanking Rooster Teeth for the years of entertainment and for helping them find joy and belonging. After reading all these stories of how Rooster Teeth has changed your lives, I wanted to share mine.

Today is incredibly surreal. My last day at RT was this past weekend, but today our website shuts down- 21 years of content, of memories - going to that farm to play with all the other old content sites. At times it feels like I’ve spent my whole life being entrenched in RT, and at others it feels like 21 years flashed by me in the blink of an eye.

December 12, 2011 was my very first day at Rooster Teeth - just over 7 years after I joined the community website in October of 2004. I remember getting ready to go into the office on that first day… what should I wear? Are people going to be happy that I’m there? Will I be accepted? Do I even deserve to be here? Am I going to fuck this all up?

Jury’s still out on a lot of those questions, but it’s safe to say I definitely fucked up - a lot. I’ve done and said many things that I greatly regret. But like all of you reading this, I am not the same person I was over a decade ago. 5 years ago. 1 year ago. Yesterday. I am proud to have grown up, and to have become who I am with the help of this community.

There were a lot of low points over my time at RT. It’s not easy to put yourself out there in front of millions of people. On the Internet. There were many days I wanted to leave; where it just became too much for me to handle. But my colleagues and friends always had my back, and so did a lot of you. I will never forget those of you who supported us through our highest highs and lowest lows. My time at RT wasn’t always easy, but you all made it worth every second of it.

Saying goodbye to Rooster Teeth is something I knew, realistically, was inevitable – something I knew I would have to do eventually. It’s truly heartbreaking to be here writing this, experiencing it, realizing I never truly prepared myself for it. I know a lot of you feel the same way, and I’m sorry. It’s a very unique kind of grief.

Despite it all, the one feeling I’m left with as these days get further behind us is overwhelming gratitude. Gratitude for getting to make you all laugh (or groan, depending on one’s enjoyment of puns); gratitude for the countless opportunities to learn new things, meet new people, and travel the world; and gratitude for getting to do this with the coolest fucking people on earth.

Today, RoosterTeeth.com closes its internet doors, leaving one final goodbye message. I am honored to have helped write that final message- I hope it stands as a reminder of the joy Rooster Teeth once brought you.

As we move into this next chapter of post-RT life, I hope you’ll still be looking out for what we all do next. We love what we do too much to let this stop us, and hope you’ll be there to support in whatever ways you can.

Good things come to an end, but what good is it if we don’t look back and see all the beauty and joy it brought us? If you take just one thing away from all of this, I hope it’s newfound gratitude for the good in your life, and recognizing it before it’s gone - because sometimes it might last 21 years, but feels like it’s gone in the blink of an eye.

Thank you for spending your years with us.

What a gift it was.

Barbara