On the heels of the departure of Electronic Gaming Monthly’s long-time editor-in-chief, Dan “Shoe” Hsu, comes another crushing blow to stalwart EGM fans. Fellow 12-year veteran Crispin Boyer announced on the June 2nd EGM Live podcast that he, too, will leave 1UP after finishing the coming issue of EGM.

Just last April, also on the podcast, Boyer said that he was leaving EGM to work on a faux pirate ship that sails along the California coast. While said pirate ship apparently exists, that podcast turned out to be an April Fool’s joke. It appears, however, that this time, Boyer is actually jumping ship.

Boyer wasn’t terribly clear about his career plans (though he did mention ‘pirate’ as a possibility), but it seems that for the time being, he will continue to contribute to 1UP as an ‘editor-at-large’. While this is certainly a boon to fans such as myself, Boyer’s exit marks the end of an era.

The last of EGM’s ‘old guard’, Boyer’s tenure stretches back to when EGM was based in Chicago, and nearly every issue was 200+ pages. As EGM gets thinner and thinner (and may disappear altogether), it’s disheartening to see such venerable editors vanish as well. Here’s hoping the rest of the staff at 1UP will continue Crispin’s legacy of irreverence, tomfoolery and top-notch journalism. And good luck, Crispin Boyer, in whatever you pursue. You will be missed.