http://www.destructoid.com/ziff-davis-is-selling-1-up-egm-other-crap-29098.phtml
Damn.While we've had our fun lampooning the periodically craptacular views of EGM and 1-UP, it's strange to learn that the parent company Ziff Davis has them on the chopping block at mercy of the highest bidder. It seems we have less and less people to make fun of every day. (Sad panda!) So why the pink slip? GameSetWatch has thoughtfully noted that despite it's $9 million on in revenues, the company's gaming division is sinking like the Titanic -- blowing half a million dollars annually (I dug through their garbage -- the money goes towards little squishy rubber balls at gaming events). Notable from the article:
... it appears that active sale attempts for the Ziff Game Group are in progress, with PaidContent commenting just last week: "It has been tough going for the tech publisher, with the print books sucking blood out of the company. Lehman is pushing the digital assets of the two divisions [including the Game Group], according to our sources. "(1UP isn't split out from the other properties in the Game Group in Ziff's financials, but the most recent results revealed a loss of $0.5 million for the quarter on revenues of $9 million for the entire Game Group - admittedly not in the Xmas quarter, which will probably do much better for them ...
We're surprised in the same way that you feel when you see purple mold on month-old Chinese food in your refrigerator. The writing has been on the wall -- it's a well publicized fact that magazines are dying a slow death. Who wants to read old gaming news? Not me. If it wasn't for the excellent witty banter of Jeremy Parish and those other veterans I'd have long cancelled my subscription. Whatever happens, they can keep doing their thing. Nah, who am I kidding? Die autobots, die!
So who's going to buy them and how soon? We don't know. If the Iraqis don't trade oil for it, we can only presume a media giant like AOL or maybe one of those half-hearted cable companies with gaming sites will want it. Either way, brace yourself for lameness and an onslaught of half true press releases from those that made it out alive. Elsewhere, the devil was seen tapdancing at GameSpot to the tune of cracked Johnny Cash records.