Kyle Bennett is leaving HardOCP and joining Intel as Director of Enthusiast Engagement. The site he leaves behind will not be sold, nor will it continue to publish news or reviews. Instead, it will effectively shut down next month. Or in Kyle's words, it's getting "mothballed."
"I have thought long and hard about this. I do not want to sell HardOCP or HardForum and see those properties turned into something that I would not be proud of. HardOCP will be 'mothballed'. It will no longer publish news, editorial, or hardware review content," Kyle stated in a farewell note.
 
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardocp-is-getting-mothballed-as-kyle-bennett-leaves-to-join-intel/ 
 
 

Goodbye HardOCP - Hello Intel

 
 
Effective April 1, 2019 I will be taking on the position of Director of Enthusiast Engagement for Intel’s Technology Leadership Marketing group. Intel wants to reconnect with the top of the high-performance consumer pyramid which contains hardware enthusiasts, overclockers, gamers, and content creators. This is the part of our community that has great influence through word of mouth and online engagement. I’ll be focusing on helping Intel get back in touch with this audience and re-establishing a voice and dialog on where the company is going with its future technologies. If you are reading this, you are very likely already part of this group.
 
So what happens to HardOCP? I have thought long and hard about this. I do not want to sell HardOCP or HardForum and see those properties turned into something that I would not be proud of. HardOCP will be "mothballed." It will no longer publish news, editorial, or hardware review content. Of course, being the "Director of Enthusiast Engagement" and closing HardForum.com, one of the largest computer enthusiast forums on the Internet, does not seem to go hand-in-hand, but there are some conflict of interest issues that need to be tackled. HardForum.com will be sold to a company that I have done business with for years, one that I can trust to run it in the way you are familiar with. HardForum will be demonitised and all advertising and commission links removed. Simply put, HardForum will not make money in any way. It will be left up to its members to fund operations through Patreon. We already have Patreon funding in place, so this should not be an issue. Over the last year, I have gotten the HardForum to run lean and mean and I have no doubt that we will not see much change in its functioning. I will also still be an admin and member of our HardForum community. I will still be there interacting with you and the other members. Even though I am going to work for Intel, I am still a member of the enthusiast community and love being a part of it. It is not something I would ever give up.
 
 
https://www.hardocp.com/article/2019/03/19/goodbye_hardocp_hello_intel/ 
 
 
???? is this for real or an early April fools joke - look at effective date

I think it is an April fools joke. Starting April 1st is the first clue.
Kyle really likes AMD hardware, not sure he would go to Intel.
" Enthusiast Engagement for Intel’s Technology Leadership Marketing group" Is that really a thing?
And if so is there really a position " Director of Enthusiast Engagement"  I doubt it.
 

bill1024
I think it is an April fools joke. Starting April 1st is the first clue.
Kyle really likes AMD hardware, not sure he would go to Intel.
" Enthusiast Engagement for Intel’s Technology Leadership Marketing group" Is that really a thing?
And if so is there really a position " Director of Enthusiast Engagement"  I doubt it.

He likes the people at AMD more than he likes AMD simply for the hardware. Over the last decade he's had good ties with AMD marketing and management. I've done a few AMD Texas GamExperience events as staff assisting AMD that were run in a partnership with [H]. Thing is, many of those people are now at Intel. So, this might not be April fools. Behind the scenes I'm seeing even people I know who left AMD in 2011 joining Intel right now. These people all worked together at AMD and are now at Intel working together again. It's looking more and more like the Intel discreet video card is designed by former AMD Radeon employees.
 
Might be April fools, but given connections he knew at AMD are now at Intel, this could be real. My bet is it's real.

Interesting take Brad, it certainly looks more likely with what you posted. I guess we will see April 2, huh?? Since [H] is being "mothballed", what happens to the folding team, and does that shutdown the marketplace they have?

notfordman
Interesting take Brad, it certainly looks more likely with what you posted. I guess we will see April 2, huh?? Since [H] is being "mothballed", what happens to the folding team, and does that shutdown the marketplace they have?

Wonder if he'll roll some of [H] into an Intel enthusiast forums. With his new position, he'd certainly have the power to.

bill1024

notfordman
Interesting take Brad, it certainly looks more likely with what you posted. I guess we will see April 2, huh?? Since [H] is being "mothballed", what happens to the folding team, and does that shutdown the marketplace they have?

Their team is staying where it is. The forums are staying where they are. The marketplace should stay the same.
Supposedly he sold HARDOCP forums to a company that is going to run it only on forum members donations. Padron its called.
No advertising or other money making ventures
Why would a company buy something that they can not make money off of? I am sure [H] was worth a ton of money.
No more reviews, no more ads. There is a staff of writers that work there, what happens to them?
Just seems odd to me.
 
 I still think it is an Aprils fool joke. 

It's probably more just prioritizing the mods saving the community than turning a profit on it. My guess is the ad revenue contracts were in Kyle's name dba [H]. All pure speculation on my part though. Given that you think the [H] name holds value, how much do you think the EVGA forums are worth in monopoly money? It's truly only worth what the community sees in it, hence seeking funding from the community to ensure it's continued existence makes sense. They could probably get more money out of the [H] community if done right than ad revenue ever brought.
 
Anyone wanna bet a 6-pack of beer on this being real? I'm game. I think many of us would agree that Kyle Bennett heading up a marketing arm of Intel is not a bad idea. He knows the industry and many of the key players.
 
The company I was product manager in before my current job used to use April 1 for annual product launches as a marketing hook, so don't be too sure this is all a joke. 

Just a follow up on this for completeness sake.

I see it more of a double cross
 
 
here you have a critic wailing against the MAN or the big companies - being critical of the lies and the BS  on their products looking out for the little guys like us - saying he won't be bought off and tell us the truth
seeing the critical articles he put out in the last year about Intel and the fake-or BS reviews from intel marketing
 
now he turn tails and take the big check (where before said i can't be bought or bribed) and is now working PR for the monster he spoke against 
 
tells you how much $$$ beats out morality
 
He sold out 
 
thats fine and dandy - he has a family to feed and take care of but own up and say ive been bought off - im gonna feed you BS and PR now
 
I still wish him well - but i won't be sold by the PR and Intel push out - even from him
 

AMD and Intel have a long standing cross licensing agreement.
 
Intel has nominally abandoned the desktop PC to AMD who now has increased market share rather significantly with the Ryzen processors which deliver good value.
 
Intel has focused more on server processors which have a higher average selling price. Shortages of desktop processors have only motivated more to buy AMD hardware.