Editorial layoffs at IGN, UGO and Future US
At least five staff let go at IGN and UGO, as Future consolidate tech group
A number of high profile editorial staff at IGN have been made redundant, while at the same time Future US has reorganised its tech business and merged it with its gaming group.
Dana Jongewaard, IGN's editor-in-chief for expanded audiences, announced on Facebook that she had left the company after two years. Jongewaard had championed female-orientated content such as the Greenpixels site and the Girlfight podcast.
At the same time fellow Girlfight host Nicole Tanner announced via Twitter that she had been made redundant, calling into question the future of the podcast and the site's Facebook coverage.
Website Gamasutra reports that GameSpy editor-in-chief Will Tuttle and team member Scott Bromley were laid off at the same time. There are also reports that staff have been made redundant at UGO.com.
IGN Entertainment only recently acquired UGO, which at the time was suggested to be a further step towards News Corp. spinning off the company as a separate entity.
There is no suggestion that this plan has changed though, with IGN currently advertising for a number of high profile positions including IGN editor-in-chief, following the recent departure of Hilary Goldstein, and associate editor positions at 1UP.com and UGO.
Coincidentally, at the same time the US subsidiary of Future Publishing has undergone an internal reorganisation. As reported by website FOLIO, five staff have been let go - including consumer marketing director Rich McCarthy and technology group vice president Kate Byrne.
Continuing losses have forced the company to consolidate its technology group brands Maximum Tech, Maximum PC, Mac|Life and Windows: The Official Magazine and merge them into its gaming group.
"They decided to consolidate the tech group, so they're going to have one sales group, one edit group. Games is the bigger play," an insider told FOLIO.
However, speaking to FOLIO, president John Marcom denied that the move was a reemphasis on gaming, characterising it more as an attempt to take advantage of common resources and to encourage "cross-pollination".