IGN Buys Gamer Network Sites, Layoffs In Progress

The gaming media landscape has just gotten a lot more consolidated. IGN Entertainment has purchased Gamer Network's digital brands, which include Eurogamer, GamesIndustry.biz, Rock Paper Shotgun, VG247, and Dicebreaker. As a result of the acquisition, layoffs for some of the affected sites have already begun. Brendan Sinclair, the popular managing editor of GamesIndustry.biz, was among the employees who were let go.

The news was shared with a number of sites including the now-IGN-owned GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network was founded by Rupert and Nick Loman in 1999 alongside the launch of Eurogamer. Gamer Network expanded to include the previously mentioned sites, and also owns a portion of Outside Xbox, Digital Foundry, as well as Hookshot; which includes Nintendolife, PushSquare, PureXbox, and Time Extension under its sites.

Gamer Network was initially sold to ReedPop in 2018, before the company signaled its intent to sell Gamer Network's assets in late 2023. ReedPop had been behind the planned relaunch of E3 in 2023, partnering with the ESA to produce the show. However, it was subsequently canceled and E3 was killed off for good the following year.

ReedPop's Popverse comic book and geek culture site was not included in the sale to IGN. Additionally, ReedPop will maintain its EGX and MCM conventions in the United Kingdom in addition to its domestic comic conventions like New York Comic Con.