IGN has laid off an unspecified number of editorial employees recently, Polygon has learned, and plans to shutter sites 1UP, GameSpy and UGO.
According to an internal memo from Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah, "Our goal is to do fewer things and to do them exceptionally well. In that vein, we want to direct all of our energy and work behind our two flagship brands: IGN and AskMen."
Shah writes that Ziff Davis, which recently acquired the IGN network of websites, will be "winding down" 1UP, UGO and GameSpy. 1UP editor-in-chief Jeremy Parish tweeted, "We won't be killing the site today; I'll post more thoughts later. On 1UP!" UGO editor-in-chief Chris Radtke wrote in a goodbye letter to readers, "UGO is dead." While editorial staffers for some of the IGN-owned shuttered sites have been laid off, sources tell Polygon that some personell will be rolled into IGN.com's editorial team.
The company is also looking for a buyer of IPL, IGN's eSports network. Rather than coordinate and publicize its own IGN Pro League, "IGN's role going forward will be to broadcast and cover a variety of eSports events."
Source: Polygon
