Author Topic: UGO boughtout the 1UP network, EGM closes it's doors (Read 27595 times)

Flames_of_chaos · « **on:** January 06, 2009, 07:42:39 PM »

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You may have heard the rumors in the past, but today the announcement we?ve all been waiting for has officially come: UGO Entertainment and parent Hearst Corporation have acquired 1UP and its associated sites GameVideos.com, MyCheats.com, and GameTab.com. 1UP and its sites now join UGO's network of gaming properties that will reach over 40 million monthly unique visitors. UGO and 1UP representatives commented on the deal:

"Since we started UGO 11 years ago, we have served the gamer community and built a world-class online publishing platform," said J Moses, CEO of UGO Entertainment. "The acquisition of 1UP, with its authentic voice, tenured editorial personalities and bustling user community, allows us to expand our base of quality content and represents a major step forward in UGO's mission to become the leader in the games space."

"We are extremely excited to join the UGO team," said Sam Kennedy, editorial director and creator of 1UP. "Relying on UGO?s publishing platform will allow us to focus on what we do best?creating great content and 'owning the conversation' among gamers through our unique, authentic and definitive voice and community."

Obviously, there are sure to be many questions as to what this deal means for the day to day of 1UP and its sites. To those, we can only say that we'll continue to produce the very best gaming content and support the very best gaming community as we always have, only now we'll have the backing of a fantastic publisher like UGO. Please join with us in celebrating this major news for 1UP.

Gamasutra reports on the official closure of EGM

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Following repeated rumors to the effect, Gamasutra has learned that Ziff Davis has sold its 1UP division to Hearst's UGO Entertainment, and is shutting long-running print magazine EGM in the process.

According to a statement received by Gamasutra, Ziff Davis Media has now officially announced the sale of the 1UP Digital Network to Hearst's UGO Entertainment division.

The sale includes 1UP.com, Mycheats.com, Gametab.com, and GameVideos.com, and specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In association with this, Ziff Davis Media's EGM Magazine, a consumer game print mainstay since 1989, will be discontinued. The January 2009 issue will be the final printed issue.

"We believe this is a smart transaction for Ziff Davis Media that places these market leading assets and teams in a great environment poised for further success. The transaction allows us to pay down debt and shift our full focus to our core PCMag Digital Network business. We thank our 1UP team members for their contributions and wish them the best of success into the future", said Ziff Davis Media CEO Jason Young.

"Since we started UGO 11 years ago, we have served the gamer community and built a world-class online publishing platform," said J Moses, CEO of UGO Entertainment. "The acquisition of 1UP, with its authentic voice, tenured editorial personalities and bustling user community, allows us to expand our base of quality content and represents a major step forward in UGO's mission to become the leader in the games space."

EasyCure · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2009, 07:46:22 PM »

good riddance?

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2009, 07:54:39 PM »

Maybe 1up will actually have detailed and good reviews now instead of "I still don't know why this game got X score or why it is good or bad"

stevey · « **Reply #3 on:** January 06, 2009, 08:32:06 PM »

****, I just got a subscription yesterday

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2009, 08:32:45 PM »

VICTORY

Peachylala · « **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2009, 08:37:49 PM »

I will drink to this.

Flames_of_chaos · « **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2009, 09:39:12 PM »

Also the 1UP show is dead, 1UP's podcast is dead and the whole 1UP video team are laid off.

Schadenfreude · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2009, 10:23:09 PM »

Most of the people working there got laid off.

Anyone who says this is good is a ****ing douchebag.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #8 on:** January 06, 2009, 10:26:56 PM »

Quote from: Schadenfreude on January 06, 2009, 10:23:09 PM

Most of the people working there got laid off.

Anyone who says this is good is a ****ing douchebag.

Good.

broodwars · « **Reply #9 on:** January 06, 2009, 10:37:15 PM »

I'm going to miss reading the reviews in EGM every month. I may have rarely agreed with them, but at least they were fun to read. What I'm really going to miss, though, are the podcasts from the 1up.com staff, Retronauts in particular. Those, along with RFN, were the staples of my evening audio experience every week.

And yes, anyone cheering this announcement is pretty fracking cruel. You may not have agreed with their magazine, but that's a lot of people out of work now from the biggest gaming print company in the business. That's not good for anyone.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #10 on:** January 06, 2009, 10:55:36 PM »

I think I actually still have the very first issue of EGM sitting back at my Mom's place. It's the one with Mega Man 2 on the cover, overlaid on a white background. I'll miss EGM, they had some great reviews back in the day.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #11 on:** January 06, 2009, 10:56:42 PM »

Yes, I have this issue (I don't think I threw it out).

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/magazines/2008/04/pdf-electronic-gaming-monthly-egm-issue-1-may-1989-pdf-download.html

Flames_of_chaos · « **Reply #12 on:** January 06, 2009, 11:18:57 PM »

40 1UP people got laid off in totally sucks that they got let go on such a bad time, take it from a guy who is looking for work in general.

This is just sad :/
Here are the people who got laid off:

Adrian Frieg
Amy Mishra
Amy Moran
Andrea Garcia
Andrew Fitch
Andrew "Skip" Pfister
Anthony Gallegos
Cesar Quintero
Christina Rosa
CoyLou Steel
Derek Chinn
Doug Parsons
Eric Ellis
Giancarlo Varanini
Greg Ford
James "Milkman" Mielke
Jason Bertrand
Jason Wilson
Jervilyn Jaramillo
Justin Frechette
Leslie Gelfand
Marci Yamaguchi
Matt Chandronait
May Tong
Meredith Stowe
Michael Donahoe
Monique Convertito
Ndubuisi Madu
Nick Suttner
Norris Boothe
Philip Kollar
Rey Serrano
Robert Bowen
Rosemary Pinkham
Ryan O'Donnell
Ryan Scott
Shane Bettenhausen
Simon Cox
Tammy Ross
Tipler Ubbelohde

vudu · « **Reply #13 on:** January 06, 2009, 11:36:13 PM »

The only part of 1UP I cared about was Retronauts. Thankfully, Parish is still employed, but I feel bad for (most of) the rest of the crew (Bettenhausen, Andrew Fitch, Greg Ford, etc.).

That list is really long. Who's left? Parish, Sharkey, Ray Barnholt ... anyone else? EDIT: Garnett Lee, too! That guy's pretty okay.

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #14 on:** January 06, 2009, 11:38:40 PM »

Quote from: Schadenfreude on January 06, 2009, 10:23:09 PM

Most of the people working there got laid off.

Anyone who says this is good is a ****ing douchebag.

your user name is not fit for your opinion.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #15 on:** January 06, 2009, 11:39:45 PM »

Quote from: broodwars on January 06, 2009, 10:37:15 PM

I'm going to miss reading the reviews in EGM every month. I may have rarely agreed with them, but at least they were fun to read. What I'm really going to miss, though, are the podcasts from the 1up.com staff, Retronauts in particular. Those, along with RFN, were the staples of my evening audio experience every week.

And yes, anyone cheering this announcement is pretty fracking cruel. You may not have agreed with their magazine, but that's a lot of people out of work now from the biggest gaming print company in the business. That's not good for anyone.

Good part 2!

Pale · « **Reply #16 on:** January 07, 2009, 12:06:58 AM »

This is fricken terrible. I loved both 1up yours and the 1up show. Those guys were really good for the industry.

What the hell is wrong with Ziff? All they do is sell their great properties to companies that only want to close them down. First Tech TV, now this...

TheYoungerPlumber · « **Reply #17 on:** January 07, 2009, 12:28:05 AM »

I am deeply saddened. Yet another gaming media outlet is consumed. And this one had some fun podcasts.

ShyGuy · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2009, 12:59:33 AM »

I'll miss the podcasts. And the 1upshow.

TofuFury · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2009, 02:01:52 AM »

That totally sucks. Like most people, I haven't been fond of the new stuff, but I still read it. I read the magazine faithfully from 1996 or 97 until 2004 when college put a clamp on my spending funds. I started picking them up again a year ago, and while I wasn't a huge fan, they still put out a great product.

I really hope Retronauts continues in some sort of way. It's one of my favorite podcasts besides RFN. Reading that list and seeing people like Ryan Scott, Greg Ford, Milkman, Shane Bettenhausen, and some of the Retronauts regulars get laid off is terrible to see.

Here's hoping they all can land on their feet and get some work. I may not agree with them, but they don't deserve this.

NWR_pap64 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 07, 2009, 02:51:55 AM »

While its sad so many people got laid off I hope that the new management straighten things out. Seriously 1up and EGM had serious elitist and attitude issues.

Wanna bet the next site to be bought out is IGN?

ThePerm · « **Reply #21 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:08:39 AM »

there goes walk in store advertising

TheYoungerPlumber · « **Reply #22 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:50:33 AM »

Well, Radio Trivia is sort of like Retronauts. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta....only without the special guests related to that episode's topic. Or a specific topic. FINE. But it IS retro!

Deguello · « **Reply #23 on:** January 07, 2009, 03:51:30 AM »

Quote from: Pale on January 07, 2009, 12:06:58 AM

This is fricken terrible. I loved both 1up yours and the 1up show. Those guys were really good for the industry.

What the hell is wrong with Ziff? All they do is sell their great properties to companies that only want to close them down. First Tech TV, now this...

The king of all ironies would be if they just simply didn't like video games or technology.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #24 on:** January 07, 2009, 04:01:02 AM »

Quote from: pap64 on January 07, 2009, 02:51:55 AM

While its sad so many people got laid off I hope that the new management straighten things out. Seriously 1up and EGM had serious elitist and attitude issues.

Wanna bet the next site to be bought out is IGN?

Really doubtful considering Newscorp bought them out in 2005.

News:

Author Topic: UGO boughtout the 1UP network, EGM closes it's doors (Read 27595 times)