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Ziff Davis selling 1up, EGM, rest of game division.

C

Costanza

Banned
http://www.destructoid.com/ziff-davis-is-selling-1-up-egm-other-crap-29098.phtml


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.
Click to expand...
Damn.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
gameover.gif
 
G

GitarooMan

Member
Uh oh, too many free subs to EGM maybe...I just hope AOL doesn't buy it and make some shite like AOL games or something.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Destructoid? Do we have a credible source on this?

Because seriously, Destructoid is at the bottom of the heap when it comes to blogs I like/trust =/ And I'm someone who, unlike most of GAF, think blogs are a good thing.
 
Y

yoopoo

Banned
The 'what would you do if you weren't working in the gaming sector' segment in the last 1UP Yours was some accurate foreshadowing.

haha
 
E

elostyle

Never forget! I'm Dumb!
I'm sure it would help their profitability if the damn site actually loaded every once in a while.
 
N

Nester-x

Member
Firestorm said:
Destructoid? Do we have a credible source on this?

Because seriously, Destructoid is at the bottom of the heap when it comes to blogs I like/trust =/ And I'm someone who, unlike most of GAF, think blogs are a good thing.
Click to expand...


The story was on GameSetWatch originally. They're a bit more reliable than Destructoid.
And I'll add my name to the list of people who would pay for 1up yours/1up show.
 
S

skip

Member
they've been trying to make the game group sellable for a long time now. remember the hullabaloo back in the summer about courting potential buyers?

there's no new info in this (shittily-written) piece, and we haven't heard anything in the office about any imminent sale (which people are oddly presuming would be a bad thing for us...).
 
S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
Wow, I really don't want to see a world without EGM in it. I'd have to read Cat Fancy on the toilet. And that magazine isn't nearly as awesome as EGM. Hopefully things are not as bad as this piece makes it look.

edit: Ah, I see from skip's post it's not as bad as it seems. Phew.
 
F

F#A#Oo

Banned
I'd pay to be a member/subscriber to 1up!:)

Honest to god! I've never subscribed to anything...but for 1up! I would!:)
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
this better be fake news, someone from 1up report!

and yeah, I would pay the same amount IGN and Gamespot are charging for membership on 1up if they would stick around
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
That writing was physically painful to read. My face really hurts. It was like the satirist from the Chico State college paper wrote an editorial while on crack.
 
J

jamesinclair

Banned
Apparently, this is old


* Posted by Rafat Ali
* Wed 27 Dec 2006 11:14 PM PST

Ziff Davis, the trouble tech media company, has begun hawking the two of its divisions to potential suitors, even as the status of its enterprise division remains unclear after media PE firm Quadrangle Group almost bought it last month, paidContent.org has learned. According to our sources, Lehman is actively soliciting interested buyers for the Consumer Small Business Group and Game Group, separately. The CSB group consists of PC Magazine, ExtremeTech and others....online/digital accounts for about 40 percent of its revenues. The Game group consists of Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com.
This comes as reports of Quadrangle close to buying the Enterprise division came early last month, but at this point it seems that deal has been stalled. It is unclear whether the deal has fallen through, or if Ziff has decided to go solo on that. Comments on our original post last month might give you a hint.
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, according to our sources.
More after the holidays.

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/zi...ed-by-lehman-enterprise-division-status-uncl/
 
T

Triz

Member
I enjoy the internet shows...but the mag not so much anymore. The fact they recurred billed me without my approval makes more sense now. :D
 
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