IGN has laid off eight staff members, which comprised 12 percent of the IGN Creators Guild’s bargaining unit, as per a directive from parent company Ziff Davis.
As per a statement issued by the IGN Union via Bluesky, the company said that the reason for the job cuts stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs “despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases.”
The layoffs, which were announced yesterday, took place after months of events coverage, including Summer Game Fest, IGN Live, and San Diego Comic Con, which all make up for a “tremendously successful year” thanks to the team’s work. “Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events,” the statement reads.
Amidst the affected are video editor Chelsea Reed, senior features editor Matt Kim, gaming editorial events manager Rob Manuel, and entertainment reviews editor Erik Adams.
“I cried this morning because so many of my wonderful colleagues were laid off today, even after the success of IGN Live and Comic-Con,” IGN lead social host and producer Jeffrey Vega wrote on Bluesky yesterday. “After today’s layoffs, I am now the only social team member left in LA. How am I supposed to do my job?”
More brands, fewer employees
The IGN layoffs are the latest in a stream of redundancies and buyouts enacted by Ziff Davis. As reported by The Verge, the media conglomerate laid off 23 people, which made for 15 percent of the Ziff Davis Creators Guild bargaining unit. The layoffs affected employees across CNET, Lifehacker, Mashable, and ZDNet.
Last year, Ziff Davis acquired a number of Gamer Network publications. Shortly after, a number of employees across the outlets were laid off. As stated by the union and reported by Aftermath at the time, the company announced in December that it’d be offering voluntary buyouts to workers to might be ready to “move on” or “explore new opportunities.” According to the union’s statement issued yesterday, the company-wide buyout “shrunk our unit numbers” with the “express intent of avoiding future layoffs.”
According to the union, the company hasn’t responded to questions about “whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts.”
Alongside the Game Network publications, Ziff Davis acquired CNET in 2024 by $100 million. This year alone, the conglomerate completed five acquisitions—two in the first quarter, and three in the second quarter, which ended in July. These include theSkimm, Maxroll, Forensic and Compliance Systems, Email Industries, and Well+Good.
“While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together,” the statement reads. “Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn’t big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.”
