Newbrief: Media outlet Digital Foundry, which has become a reliable source for analyzing the technical performance of video game hardware and software, is now independent of IGN and its parent company Ziff Davis.
In a video announcing the news, founder and host Richard Leadbetter walked viewers through the surprisingly complex business machinations that saw the outlet land in Ziff Davis’ video game media portfolio alongside IGN, Eurogamer, Gamesindustry.biz, and other outlets. According to Leadbetter, Digital Foundry was established in 2015 with a 50 percent investment from the company Gamer Network, formerly the ultimate parent company of Eurogamer and Gamesindustry.biz.
Gamer Network was then purchased by event operations company ReedPop (which organizes PAX East, Star Wars Celebration, and other events), and later sold to Ziff Davis. Leadbetter stated that IGN offered to sell back its shares to him—a welcome message given that he’d been looking to buy them back for “many years.” The purchase was assisted by investment from Gamer Network founder Rupert Loman.
“All aspects of Digital Foundry going forward are actually decided by us, the team, which is something we’ve never really managed to have before,” said Leadbetter. “The concept of being fully independent is quite staggering when you think about it.”
Ziff Davis also spent this week laying off workers at IGN, months after buying sites like CNET, Lifehacker, and other outlets. It did so in the same week it reported a 9.8 percent growth in revenue and 17 percent growth in income from operations year-over-year. (Net income did decrease about 30 percent in the same period).
For more information, you can view Digital Foundry’s announcement on its YouTube channel.
