UGO Entertainment Acquires 1UP, EGM Dead, Mass Layoffs
UGO Entertainment has acquired 1UP. Straight from the source:
Quote:
You may have heard the rumors in the past, but today the announcement we've all been waiting for has officially come: UGO Entertainment and parent Hearst Corporation have acquired 1UP and its associated sites GameVideos.com, MyCheats.com, and GameTab.com. 1UP and its sites now join UGO's network of gaming properties that will reach over 40 million monthly unique visitors. UGO and 1UP representatives commented on the deal:
"Since we started UGO 11 years ago, we have served the gamer community and built a world-class online publishing platform," said J Moses, CEO of UGO Entertainment. "The acquisition of 1UP, with its authentic voice, tenured editorial personalities and bustling user community, allows us to expand our base of quality content and represents a major step forward in UGO's mission to become the leader in the games space."
At present, the following 1UP staff have indicated -- either in tweets, forum posts, or directly to us -- that they have been let go: Andrew "Skip" Pfister, Matt Chandronait, Ryan O'Donnell, Jay Fresh, Cesar Quintero, Philip Kollar, Nick Suttner, Anthony Gallegos, Shane Bettenhausen, James "Milkman" Mielke.
Additionally, publication of gaming magazine EGM is done. The last issue to be printed will be January 2009's.
I think the most important tidbit here is that EGM will no longer be published, which is a shame, as it was some of the last responsible gaming journalism left. I guess Ill get some of my subscription money back, but a crying shame nonetheless.
__________________ She said my name and my spirit, are both corrupt and if you hold me close you gotta hold me up.
EGM was pretty shitty overall, very poorly written and full of fluff. At least thats one less Ad Catalog posing as a Magazine, thats what you get Ziff for filling almost(or maybe more than)50% of your magazine with worhtless shit ads on top of ADS.
The only magazine that I really liked enough to get mad over was PC Xcellerator(spelled wrong ya but whatever right) it was a great magazine very funny and the ppl didn't give a shit about what they said, funny site too.
Yep, this blows ass. 1UP Yours got me into podcasts in the first place and I still love(d) their choicey array the most. I even subscribed to EGM just to show my support for the site and people (I believe magazines are dead and I barely got more than 10 minutes out of each copy). There is a hole now where 1up used to be. A big, painful wound.
This is not good news at all 1up yours/FM/Retronauts all dead, rumors that 30 people were laid off at 1up. And EGM is officially dead. Truly an end of a golden era. Shawn Elliot ,Jeff Green and Dan Tsu jumped ship at the right time.
This is not good news at all 1up yours/FM/Retronauts all dead, rumors that 30 people were laid off at 1up. And EGM is officially dead. Truly an end of a golden era. Shawn Elliot ,Jeff Green and Dan Tsu jumped ship at the right time.
Yeah, they saw what was coming and when they jumped ship I knew it was close to the end also. I too am sad that 1up yours is going away.
Full list of layoffs is here... ugh, my thoughts to everyone who was laid off. No more quality podcasting; genuinely the best gaming podcast selection out there in my eyes, really going to miss it all.
This is horrible news. Best wishes / condolences to the ex-staff and ex-subscribers.
__________________ XBL/PSN/Steam: spdiscus Currently Playing: Max Payne 2 (PC) Recently Finished: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS), Modern Warfare 2 SP (360), Flower (PS3)
__________________ XBL/PSN/Steam: spdiscus Currently Playing: Max Payne 2 (PC) Recently Finished: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS), Modern Warfare 2 SP (360), Flower (PS3)
Full list of layoffs is here... ugh, my thoughts to everyone who was laid off. No more quality podcasting; genuinely the best gaming podcast selection out there in my eyes, really going to miss it all.
This is insanity....
Quote:
At present, the following 1UP staff have indicated -- either in tweets, forum posts, or directly to us -- that they have been let go: Andrew "Skip" Pfister, Matt Chandronait, Ryan O'Donnell, Jay Fresh, Cesar Quintero, Philip Kollar, Nick Suttner, Anthony Gallegos, Shane Bettenhausen, James "Milkman" Mielke.
Good luck to all those who lost their jobs in this deal. Pound for pound, Ziff had some of the most talented people in the business, so hopefully those affected will land on their. Before idiots run their mouths about it being awesome that EGM is closing or whatever, keep in mind that real people are losing their jobs as a result of this, and in one of the worst economies in generations.
On a personal note, I love EGM and will be sad to see it go. I'm also a fan of a lot of their podcasts and the 1up Show, and it's a shame to see that kind of content, which is a HUGE differentiator from Ziff's competition, gutted out. Their audio and video content really helped set them apart from everyone else, and contributed immensely to 1up's much more intimate editorial voice. You got to know these people not only through their writing, but also their own physical voices. As a result, I felt more connected to their opinions as people than I do with almost any other site.
The world already has enough IGNs and Gamespots, and it's a shame that a standout editorial organization like Ziff seems to be heading down that road.
Yeah. I'm done going to 1up. Looks like Garnett got to stay, but still, the podcasts are what made that site. Now that they're gone I feel no need to go it. I guess ill just have to start listening to gamescoop and podcast beyond again. How did David Ellis get to stay over Simon, Shane, Ryan or Mielke though.
No surprise about EGM. Sucks to be laid-off, I've been there twice.
Hopefully some of the good talent will find positions elsewhere in the industry (I wonder if it was coincidence that they had the giantbomb guys drop by for what ended up being their last podcast?).
If nothing else, I'm sure Shane Bettenhausen will get a PR job at Sony since that's essentially what he was doing at 1UP the past few years anyway.
