IGN sells out to Murdoch's News Corp.
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Sep 8th 2005 at 11:00AM }
News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has
bought out online gaming network IGN Entertainment in a massive $650 million acquisition. The network runs sites like
Gamespy, Fileplanet, TeamXbox and 3D Gamers and its main target audience is the 18-30 male gamer market. Apparently
Murdoch had some loose change left over after he bought 5 other online sites including MySpace.com. The total
hits/month for News Corp's online presence now reaches over 12 billion hits per month.
IGN CEO Mark Jung will stay on to run the network under its new owners (link courtesy of Murdoch's Fox network, yeah, he owns that too). According to a Financial Times article, Murdoch had previously been sceptical about going online. But I guess he must believe in it now, he's only gone and set aside a total of $2 Billion for getting his feet into the medium.
It's quite hard to tell what will change at IGN. It's possible that News Corp's extra cash horde will mean less advertisements on the usually graphically rich site. The content certainly won't change. News Corp bought IGN to do exactly what they were always doing; report on games. The only difference will be that the reporting will be under Mr. Murdoch's name. So, what's your opinion?
[Thanks, Fuzz]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hibiscusroto @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
My thought is that Murdoch sucks eggs and I hope that IGN burns in the firey pits of media conglomerate hell.
CheapyD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
"It’s possible that News Corp’s extra cash horde will mean less advertisements on the usually graphically rich site."
It's also possible that monkeys will fly out of my butt, although its highly unlikely.
DVD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Only fitting that the company to beat in the world of game journalism is bought by their much larger equivalent in general news reporting.
C-Dub @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Great! Now all we're going to get are right wing slanted video game reviews and stories. ;)
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I didn't want to mention this in the article, but I make it a point to not watch/read any news that Rupert Murdoch has his fingers on. I also never used to read IGN. Its "lowest common denominator" approach doesn't appeal to me. So really what I'm saying is that in my opinion the content at IGN couldn't get any worse.
Peter @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Considering I stopped reading GameSpy and the like before it was snowballed into IGN this means nothing to me. Their content is turgid and the design of their site has always made me want to vomit. I think it only appropriate that it is now a bastard child of the Fox empire, it really takes GameSpy full circle.
I remember when QSpy first came out and Planetquake had that '95 era Wicked Skull Moon Logo going on. Their website was dedicated entirely to mod content and news and it was fantastic. Look at it now... it's like a bloated carcass on the side of the Information Superhighway.
Compare and contrast:
http://web.archive.org/web/19970414103422/http://www.planetquake.com/
http://www.planetquake.com
Ruari @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
What does this mean for Nintendo DS and Revolution's Gamespy WI-FI connection network?
32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
"So really what I'm saying is that in my opinion the content at IGN couldn't get any worse."
Someone's much more optimistic than I am. Think of it this way - IGN is a step above anything Spike TV has ever done with video gaming. So we can say for certain that there's at least one in which it could get worse. And I won't rule out anything beyond that.
Sin ViCiOuS @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
What is it with you people so against large corps? Eevrything is right wing.. get OVER IT!! YEAH and I LOVE FOX NEWS its not full of conspiracy theories and false reporting. There has been a notable shift on this site to anti-capatalism, why? Dont know, but its capitalism that brings us NEX GEN games innovation and competition. Almost every comment on the 360 is tilted with a negative after taste without saying straight out, why? Because its the EVIL MS empire!!! Keep this trend going and more conservatives like myself will find other sites to refer to. (Again thanks to capitalism)
Venomous @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Yeah, I like FOX news as well. And I really dont think it means anything besides they want to invest in a videogame website. Big fucking deal? I know there is alot of liberal gay marriage types in here. And politics shouldnt be a factor. Thats the last place I want to see it.
C-Dub @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
People like FOX news? Shudder.
Interesting point about the gamespy wifi network.
Art @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Fox News not full of false reporting? Right. You do not have to be a liberal to hate Murdoch, who kills any story that might embarrass his friends or business partners(including advertisers).
I don't know if it affect IGN at all. I usually don't go to any of those sites except Fileplanet. I wonder how he feels about sex and violence in videogames? Scroll up a bit for the story about Take Two's loss due to the whole "Hot Coffee" debacle.
pspimp @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
YOU LIKE FOX NEWS?!?!?!
me too.
Rock on Murdoch!
I am surprised that IGN would garner such a high price, it is just a crappy game site.
I prefer 3dgamer and gamerankings over it. I like the babes section though! ;)
As for politics, I heard a good quote a while ago, "If you are young and conservative you are heartless if you are old and liberal you are an idiot." A good one 'eh?
Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Jeez, calm down. One commenter mentions right-wing (and in a joking manner) and you just fly off the handle. I mean Joystiq is anti-capitalism? Liberal gay marriage types? Where did that come from?
Oh... and Fox News is terrible...
But so is just about all cable news...
homer @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
forgive the right-winger's postings - they are freaking out b/c their hero bush is tanking in the polls b/c of his admin's bumbling. i don't think people hate capitalism, i think they hate huge monopoly-like corps that take down the competition using illegal tactics. ign used to be better - since implementing the paid-areas (and huge ads) i think they've gone way downhill. i expect it to become a totally unreliable source for info soon, resorting to spin and lies, just like foxnews.
nmaster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Damn, Ruari beat me to it...that was the first thing I was thinking.
Fox News in control of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Network? I don't like that at all...
...but maybe it will get Nintendo in good with Fox and finally get some good press. Somehow I doubt it though...
If they trash IGN and GameSpy, I vote for revolt...
JimyD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Fox News is no different than getting your news from www.GOP.com. I wouldn't be spouting out too much about the Right since your clueless and corrupt leader has been in rather prime form this past week with his classic quote - "Brownie, you're doing "a heckuva job."
IGN should fit in well with Murdoch's tabloid news format.
Spiza @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Yes, a politcal debate on joystiq. Looks like we have extreme right and left wingers here mostly. I'll start by saying that I did vote for bush, but only because the alternative was Kerry. Its sad we can only pick from 2 terrible candidates. I guess I figured bush would do less damage than kerry.
And don't blame the recent Katrina mess on bush since polls were mentioned. It seems that its a local debacle when you get passed all the negative federal government news. Lets see, hundreds of busses under water that could have been used in an evacuation. Local people were shooting at Fema helicopter 2 hours after the storm had passed forcing the local fema to not check out the damage. Governer kept red cross from going to the super dome hours after the storm had passed(probably for fear of them getting shot at). Governer did not call for national guard and instead waited for federal government to take over the situation. Whole thing is sad mess. Problems on every level from citizens, to local government, to state government, to federal government.
Fox news is only as bad as the other cable news sources. I like to get my news from bbc which seems to be biased still, but gets more stories out and does get facts out. To say cnn or msnbc are any good is just as sad as saying fox is good.
Venomous @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Hey, I voted for Bush....because Kerry was such a fag. I like FOX news, But you have to jump around to somtimes get the whole story. And Clinton wasnt corrupt? What about the New York times? Now thats funny.
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I love a political debate as much as anyone, but please, keep it on-topic and don't attack each other for your views. Otherwise; GET IN BEFORE THE LOCK.
Philip Wesley @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
So, New Corporation owns IGN now? I don't see this changing anything, actually.
As for the crowd that leaps up to cry "WOLF!" when they see the name Newscorp.. If those people followed the money on a lot of things, they'd notice that Newscorp has investments in a lot of companies, even competitors. So, if you own Sony products, you're supporting Newscorp. If you saw Farenheit 9/11 in theatres or bought it on DVD, you gave money to Newscorp. Get over it. :-P If you listen to Air America, Wing TV, or bought certain David Icke books, you gave money to Newscorp.
Just get over it.
One thing about bias is that bias is subjective from person to person. Is there an underlaying bias in news reports here in the USA? Yes. Same as there is in Europe, Asia, and especially online. But that bias is predetermined by the reader. In other words, if you say Fox news is "right wing," than you can find evidence to that end. Same if you believe it is "left wing." Your own ability to be biased determines how you view the news you are given.
Alkaiser @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
IGN, Gamespy, and everything else he picked up was already basically trash, with the possible exception of Rottentomatoes. (Which IGN bought last year sometime.)
Wanna bet some of those new Fox movies are going to be rated "Fresh" before their opening weekend, then, all of a sudden, look horribly un-fresh after the weekend has passed?
Sergio @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
"I love a political debate as much as anyone, but please, keep it on-topic and don't attack each other for your views."
Hello, kettle. While you didn't say it in as many words, it's obvious what your view was. You could've kept it to a simple, "News Corp buys IGN", but decided to say "sells out".
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
I wasn't saying don't express your views. I was saying keep it on-topic; as in the recent buyout by Murdoch. People discussing Clinton in this thread are off-topic.
kuyu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Fox News is in no way slanted. Fox News programming during prime time is very slanted toward the conservative side. I've noticed that, with the news, they go out of their way to give both sides of everything. The problem is most people are too stupid to know the difference between news coverage and editorial shows.
Now that we know this, we have a lithmus test for morons. If anyone says "Fox News is right wing, GOP, etc.." then we know immediatly that they can't tell the difference between news and editorial. Furthermore, they likely can't tell their ass from their face, and are sure to chant along with any bong-induced, conspiracy diatribe that seems fashionable at the time.
My personal favorite is the "weak dollar/trade deficit" bullshit. You can't have both. A strong dollar causes trade deficits. A weak dollar helps them. It's a catch 22. So now we get "the dollar is weak, Bush sucks." If the dollar was strong we'd get "trade deficit, Bush sucks." Idiots...
That's why I watch CNBC.
Lampbane @ Dec 18th 2005 9:42PM
Ah, I knew someone would pass the buck on Katrina down the local level. Because you know, it's not like the feds could ever screw up.
Anyway.
Fox News is not in charge of IGN now. They're just owned by the same company now. There's a difference.