IGN expands to German market
US gaming network acquires German community site GIGA.DE
US-based videogame media and service provider IGN Entertainment has announced its acquisition of German videogame community site GIGA.DE. This acquisition marks IGN's official entry into the German market.
"The German gaming market is one of the biggest in Europe, and the massive potential it offers made it a natural choice for us," said IGN senior vice president Chris Ellis.
"We are extremely excited about welcoming GIGA.DE as part of IGN Entertainment and continuing our international expansion by entering the German market for the first time."
GIGA.DE is a videogame enthusiast community site, as well as the online arm of the GIGA television network. The site boasts over 697,000 unique visitors a month, and is expected to grow by utilising IGN's existing stable of networks and websites.
"This is a huge opportunity to give even more to our users by offering IGN's world class content, whilst maintaining our trademark GIGA.DE touch and feel," said GIGA.DE editor in chief Michael Schlieper. "It's a natural fit for both brands and we're looking forward to engaging the GIGA.DE community to create the best and most vibrant videogame site in Germany."
Based in California, IGN Entertainment is a division of Fox Interactive Media whose properties include IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, Direct2Drive, Rotten Tomatoes and AskMen.com, among others.