1UP sale spells the end for EGM and 1UP Show
The rumours were true
Sad news, this. The American print magazine EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) and the various 1UP shows and podcasts might not mean much to British readers, but few who keep a finger on the pulse of the video game industry will be ignorant of the fact that the company that supplies them – Ziff Davis – has been in a weak financial position for a while.
Well, yesterday (overnight here in the UK) the story broke that Ziff Davis has sold its 1UP division to the Hearst Corporations’s UGO Entertainment, and EGM is for the chop, along – reputedly - with the excellent 1UP Show and the 1UP Yours audio podcast.
As of writing there’s been no official word about what’s staying and what’s going, but it’s known that several key staff have been laid off, including writers, editors, presenters and producers.
You can see the full list of redundancies on Joystiq, and the email Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young sent to its employees on Gamasutra.
Amongst the casualties are some of the most experienced and talented games journalists in the business. Thankfully, it tends to be true what they say about not being able to keep a good man down, so I'm sure we'll see them all again.
