A new wave of layoffs is looming in the gaming media industry. Eurogamer and other Gamer Network sites owned by IGN have begun large-scale layoffs this week.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the British publication Eurogamer is experiencing at least its second wave of layoffs since being sold by former owner ReedPop in 2024. The layoffs reportedly affected the brand's most experienced editors, as well as the entire four-person video production team. At the same time, at least one position will be transferred directly to IGN.
The cuts also affected the behind-the-scenes part of the popular YouTube brand Outside Xbox, which has more than 3.5 million subscribers and recently completed a stage tour of the UK.
IGN Entertainment's parent company, Ziff Davis, acquired the Gamer Network group in May 2024 for an undisclosed sum. The network's portfolio includes such authoritative resources as GamesIndustry.biz, Rock Paper Shotgun and VG247. In addition, Gamer Network owns a stake in Hookshot — the owners of Nintendo Life — and Outside Xbox.
After the deal, the Gamer Network brands faced editorial turbulence: layoffs, staff reassignments, and the abandonment of some assets significantly changed the structure of the network. Immediately after the purchase was announced, some areas were closed, including the board game site Dicebreaker, and soon a voluntary redundancy program initiated by Ziff Davis led to further staff attrition.
Last summer, there was a quiet rotation of staff between brands. After the editor-in-chief of Eurogamer took a new position at IGN (the previous head moved there back in 2023), almost the entire VG247 editorial team was transferred to Eurogamer. At the same time, the departed VG247 employees were not replaced: the news site, launched in 2008, has actually shrunk to a small guide-making unit run by just two full-time authors.
According to data from the analytical company Press Engine, provided to VGC in October, the global pool of game journalists has decreased by 25% over the past two years — more than 1,200 authors who regularly covered video games have left their positions.