It was only a matter of time, I guess. Once Ziff Davis acquired IGN and everything they’d already gobbled up, folks immediately began speculating what outlets would be folded. Turns out, the answer’s pretty much everything but IGN and AskMen. Specifically, 1UP, UGO, and GameSpy have all gone the way of the dinosaur. It’s not like this should come as too much of a surprise to anyone that’s ever witnessed a business acquisition from the sidelines before, but it’s still disappointing for everyone that enjoyed the content those sites once produced.
It’s not like the flagship IGN site made it out completely unscathed, though. Ryan Clements and Colin Campbell are both gone, for example. That’s nothing compared to completely cutting the cord on 1UP, UGo, and GameSpy, though. Other than a few select employees that will be folded into IGN, writers at those formerly-active sites no longer have jobs.
IGN has long been known for its absolutely sprawling empire, and a little consolidation will likely be a net positive when considering the future of the brand. Bringing in folks like Jeremy Parish, formerly of 1UP, can only help them going forward. This maneuver might be full of buzzwords and meaningless chatter from Ziff Davis, but it actually does have some potential.
It’s also not like IGN hasn’t been shedding bits and pieces for years. The multiplayer technology that shares a name with GameSpy no longer falls under their umbrella, and Direct2Drive was bought by GameFly some time ago. Ziff Davis is also looking to unload IGN Pro League rather than have that as another thing to worry about.
One day, not long into the future, all video games reporting will likely come from a single central hub. There’s bound to be a dystopian film about this in the works somewhere.
(via Polygon)
- Ziff Davis must really want 1UP gone or something
- IGN’s was for sale for a long while
- Tech journalism has made for some… interesting reading lately
