G/O Media has sold gaming site Kotaku to European company Keleops, which previously purchased Kotaku sister site Gizmodo in 2024.
Axios reports that the site's staff will stay on and that the new owner plans to make hires. The price of the deal was not disclosed.
In a press release sent to Aftermath, Keleops CEO Jean-Guillaume Kleis wrote, “We are thrilled to welcome the entire Kotaku team to Keleops." Kleis continued, “Kotaku isn’t just a brand—it’s a home for gamers and a place where the culture keeps moving forward. We are honored to shape its future."
Private equity firm Great Hill Partners (stay with me here) purchased Kotaku's parent company, then called Gizmodo Media Group, in 2019 from Univision. Univision purchased it, then called Gawker Media Group, in 2016 after the company declared bankruptcy following a verdict in a trial with wrestler Hulk Hogan. Under G/O Media CEO and noted herb Jim Spanfeller, the sites saw mass employee exoduses (including the founders of Aftermath), pages choked with ads, and frequent conflict between staff and leadership, including a union strike in 2022.
Following Kotaku EIC Stephen Totilo's departure in early 2021, I served as interim EIC until the hire of Patricia Hernandez in June of that year. Hernandez was reportedly fired in August of 2023. Subsequent EIC Jen Glennon resigned in March 2024 after leadership attempted to institute new rules emphasizing guides coverage, never Kotaku's focus area, over news. Kotaku saw layoffs later that year.
The Root is now the only site in G/O's stable. IGN owner Ziff Davis bought Lifehacker in 2023. Paste bought Jezebel, following its closure and staff layoffs, in 2023, as well as The A/V Club in 2024. Deadspin was sold to a gambling media company in 2024, after its staff was also laid off (and well after its former staff quit en masse and formed Defector). The Onion was sold in 2024 and is run by former NBC reporter Ben Collins. Static Media bought The Takeout in 2024 and Jalopnik in 2025. Most recently, G/O sold Quartz and commerce site The Inventory in 2025.
While G/O still owns The Root, it also issued a statement suggesting it's winding down operations, with Spanfeller writing that "it became clear to our investors that it was time to move on." Spanfeller also couldn't resist taking a shot at the union, praising unions for "add[ing] value to editorial employees’ positions" while also writing that "the core methods that unions work with (or rather against) companies working hard to change with the times is counterproductive to both their membership as well as the companies as a whole.”
Hopefully Kotaku employees do not care what Jim Spanfeller has to say, because he is no longer their boss! I am simply thrilled for Kotaku's staff and excited for their future; Gizmodo appears to be thriving, and I'm hopeful Kotaku will do the same. I'm looking forward to the site's talented journalists getting back to making a good outlet that people like without having to fight executives and private equity goons to do it.
This story has been updated.
