IGN Faces Staff Cuts Due to Parent Company Ziff Davis' Cost Optimization

IGN Entertainment, owned by Ziff Davis, has conducted a staff reduction, including eight members of the IGN Creators Guild union. Overall, these cuts affected 12% of employees covered by the collective agreement. This marks the latest changes in the unstable media gaming landscape. Earlier this year, parent company Vox Media sold Polygon to GameRant's owner, Valnet, while Giant Bomb became an independent platform. Additionally, Game Informer has returned after the closure of GameStop stores. Last week, Ziff Davis laid off employees at CNET.

Those laid off from IGN include former senior editor Matt Kim and video editor Chelsea Miller. According to senior IGN reporter and union co-chair Rebecca Valentine, the layoffs were not targeted at specific departments: "These are primarily individual employees from various divisions." The union notes that the company explained the need for cuts as a means to reduce expenses, despite several quarters of revenue growth. "This surprises us, as we were repeatedly told that IGN Entertainment had a very successful year thanks to the hard work of our employees."

A technical department engineer was also laid off, reported Hunter Paniagua, a representative of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, which represents the IGN Creators Guild. Ziff Davis is currently not commenting on the situation. According to an SEC report, the company employed around 3,800 staff last year.

Last year, IGN acquired the Gamer Network portfolio of websites, which includes Eurogamer, Gamesindustry.biz, and Rock Paper Shotgun. The terms of the deal remain confidential. The union adds that the company did not respond to their inquiries regarding budget reviews for potential future acquisitions as part of cost-cutting measures.