In late October, digital media mainstay Ziff Davis made an offer to its staff. “Organic revenue,” read an email to employees, had declined by 10 percent since 2021, necessitating cuts. Like others in the industry, the company proposed a series of voluntary buyouts to those who "may be ready to move on, explore new opportunities, or just take a break." In other words, layoffs, but employees get to choose whether to disembark the sinking ship now or potentially get thrown overboard later. The end result, as we’ve seen over the course of the past few weeks, is the same: Publications lose key people, and those remaining wind up spread increasingly thin.
Gaming-related properties that have been hit by Ziff’s soft layoffs include IGN, GamesIndustry.biz, and Humble Bundle. In the former two cases, multiple employees have publicly announced their impending departures.
"Announcement time: next week is my last week at IGN," senior news editor Alex Stedman recently wrote on Instagram. "As for what’s next for me, I’m honestly not sure yet! But what’s become abundantly clear to me is that I really need a break. I’m beyond lucky to have been working consistently in entertainment journalism from the age of 20, but after 12 years largely in a news grind, I’m exhausted! And it’s time to take a breather and consider my next moves."
"I'm leaving GamesIndustry.biz at the end of the month," GI.biz head Christopher Dring wrote last week. "It's been quite the 8-year journey. I love the industry, I love business media and I will be back in 2025, although what that will look like is to be worked out."
These are industry veterans – as opposed to more-easily-replaced up and comers – and they’re not alone. At GI.biz, three staffers, including EIC James Batchelor, have announced that this is their final month, leaving one of the few influential trade publications in video games with a single full-time employee. A current IGN staff member who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss these matters publicly told Aftermath that while their site has not been “decimated,” at least six people have accepted buyouts. As for Humble, exact numbers are unclear, but one current Ziff employee and one former Humble employee both told Aftermath that “a lot” of Humble staff have taken buyouts.
Ziff Davis did not reply to a request for comment.
This follows IGN Entertainment’s purchase of the Gamer Network of sites earlier this year, which also led to layoffs – in some cases of senior-level talent – at publications like GI.biz, VG247, and Rock Paper Shotgun. In July, Ziff also laid off all 36 employees of Humble Games, an indie publisher it spun off from Humble Bundle, which it called a “restructuring,” but which effectively put a third-party consulting firm called The Powell Group in charge of the label. This left multiple game studios in a state of uncertainty. Since then, former Humble Games staff have formed their own publisher called Good Games Group, which is collaborating with Ziff to provide support for Humble’s previously released games, while Powell takes point on future titles.
Remaining employees at Ziff-owned gaming properties aren’t sure what the future holds.
“I think the big thing for me is they haven't really communicated plans as to how they're going to fill that work,” the current IGN employee told Aftermath. “We're all just kind of at sea. Some of the folks leaving filled very essential roles. [Management has] also, as you've seen, fired two other folks in the last few months, and laid off three others earlier this year. And we've been on a hiring freeze for a bit. So as you can imagine we are strained.”
Correction 12/10/24: A previous version of this piece stated that Good Games Group, rather than Powell, was providing support for Humble's unreleased games. We regret the error.
