For Sale: EGM and 1UP
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jan 8th 2007 at 9:25AM }
Ziff Davis is attempting to sell 1UP and Electronic Gaming Monthly. According to reports, publisher Ziff Davis is actively entertaining offers for a few of its divisions, including the Ziff Davis Game Group, which includes EGM, 1UP, the recently renamed Games for Windows and the recently deceased OPM (Official PlayStation Magazine).Simon Carless of GameSetWatch, who has been following the story, believes, "Ziff might have closed Official PlayStation Magazine a little earlier than they might otherwise have done, in order to make the Game Group more attractive to potential purchasers, who obviously care most about 1UP. Which makes sense, because in most cases (prestige low-circulation magazines such as Edge notwithstanding), circs and revenues in consumer print are only going to trickle down over the next few years."
What this sale means is still up for great debate. There is currently no firm buyer and even if the unit is sold, readers probably won't notice a change for a couple years -- if ever. All this means right now is the Ziff Davis Game Group is up for sale, which is just standard business.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Callandor @ Jan 8th 2007 9:37AM
Maybe they will be bought by a publishing house that will let them print profanity uncensored.
jojo29 @ Jan 9th 2007 8:42AM
EGM has always been a "bought" publication anways :)
KR @ Jan 8th 2007 9:46AM
Was only a matter of time after the CGW thing.
Maybe they'll print profanity uncensored? Maybe they won't be such a crappy magazine with nothing to offer but weak humor and zero insight.
DC @ Jan 8th 2007 10:00AM
Hey .. I ain't goin' in to work today .. gonna stay home and play .. cuz they sold us away.
Lixie @ Jan 17th 2007 10:05AM
I'd laugh my ass off if EA bought the company. What better way to control how you products are presented in the media than by owning the people who consumers rely on for information.
Maybe Microsoft should buy them. Then 1up would bleed Sony-hate.
Whoever buys them, I just hope it makes things more interesting.
DC @ Jan 8th 2007 10:08AM
I hope Microsoft buys them so that they can pursue their pro-Xbox coverage with at least a shred of integrity.
Sol @ Jan 8th 2007 10:11AM
I thought 1UP was bought by Microsoft months ago. Those guys love their XBox360s.
nick @ Jan 8th 2007 11:00PM
The one thing that has always struck me is how thin EGM is, since it's a publication covering all systems. And I would have thought the December issue would have had tons of advertisers, but it seemed like a bunch of the ads were non game related.
LMAO @ Jan 8th 2007 10:46AM
You know what happens when a company is sold off right? That's right, whole bunch people getting fired.
Jau_Peacecraft @ Jan 8th 2007 12:55PM
EGM blows, 1up sucks. Well, 1up isn't that bad; for some reason reading retarded, zero-insight biased info (with a flood of intermittent ads which make up for 50% of magazines nowadays) is just way more annoying than seeing dumbass retard make another pro-final fantasy/xbox/M$/PS/Nintendo/Gizmondo (okay such a fanboy doesn't exist) comment post to the odd and rare decent review on 1up.
If I could, I would buy that magazine and 1up, and fire everyone that refuses to obey my commands / viewpoint, because who are we kidding ourselves, they are biased anyways, I would just make sure they aren't pussies about it. The only thing better than me taking over and controlling everything would be Maddox doing so, but he would not waste his time with such a petite endeavor.
DonovanAlabaster @ Jan 8th 2007 11:21AM
I'd love for someone to breathe some life into EGM, not with a simple layout revamp, but actual substance. The reviews are the main draw to the magazine and need a serious fix. How can a game get both a 5.5 and a 9 in the same review space? It shows there are no standards/systems to which the games are being judged against.
And what happened to the segment where they were interviewing game designers? It was the last interesting thing they did.
Gamer G @ Jan 8th 2007 11:55AM
Just because they recognise that the 360 is a good well designed console at a decent price doesn't make them biased! Part from the DS what else was there to talk about in the first 11 months of 2006??
daCuk @ Jan 8th 2007 3:38PM
I think magazines have not evolved enough to maintain an edge over websites.
For web info, I use www.gametab.com as some sort of game newspaper.
As for EGM, I think its recent change of looks and the insane emphasis on First Person Shooters (directed by Shoe "only-Halo-matters" Hsu) has make it somewhat unreliable as for objectivity goes.
Just my humble opinion.
Callandor @ Jan 9th 2007 2:20PM
"How can a game get both a 5.5 and a 9 in the same review space?"
It's called editor's opinions. One editor may love the Hell out of a game, but another may hate it. It's not a difficult concept.
If people do get fired when it's bought out, they better keep Shoe, Crispin, and Jennifer. They have to be my favorite three editors.
Callandor @ Jan 8th 2007 12:13PM
"How can a game get both a 5.5 and a 9 in the same review space?"
It's called personal opinion. One editor may love a game, but another may hate it. It's that simple.
If EGM is bought out, I hope that Shoe, Crispin, and Jennifer aren't fired. They have to be my favorite editors.
Scott @ Jan 8th 2007 2:11PM
PC Gamer > CGW/Games for Windows
Tim Ashdown @ Jan 8th 2007 12:46PM
I can definatly see how the ZD game would prove attarctive other publishers. Especially 1up.com. 1up.com is a myspace for gamers and everyone remebers how Fox News bought myspace. I wouldn't be surised if a complany like EA bought the game group from Uncle Ziff. I am worried about the ballsy writers they have though. Do you think people like Luke Smith, Seanbaby, or even "Shoe" could servive in the "Corporate Controlled" media?
Tim Ashdown @ Jan 8th 2007 9:35PM
Lets try this again with better spelling.
I can definatly see how the ZD game group would prove attractive to other publishers. Especially 1up.com. 1up.com is a myspace for gamers and everyone remebers how Fox News bought myspace and never looked back. I wouldn't be surprised if a complany like EA bought the game group from Uncle Ziff. I am worried about the ballsy writers they have though. Do you think people like Luke Smith, Seanbaby, or even "Shoe" could survive in the "Corporate Controlled" media?
Callandor @ Jan 10th 2007 12:06PM
@ Jau_Peacecraft
You shouldn't get anywhere near a publication if you would fire those who you don't agree with. You obviously have respect for the First Amendment.
Anywhere, I don't know why everyone keeps calling them biased. Yes, for a long time, their main focus was on the 360, but it was the only next-gen console on the market. They are now doing their fair share of Wii and PS3 coverage now that those consoles have been released.
Nick Mercer @ Jan 8th 2007 2:18PM
I have a subscription to EGM because I enjoy it for the occasional reading, but honestly, it has sucked since back in the day when PS1 & N64 were out. Once Dreamcast came out and the new consoles started to release, everything just went downhill from there.
Hopefully it will sell and prove to make a better magazine group and kill off 1up.com.
-Nick
jojo29 @ Jan 8th 2007 2:38PM
Nothing new here, EGM has always been a "bought out" mag. Good riddance of trash.
Jau_Peacecraft @ Jan 8th 2007 6:42PM
I forgot to also second the posts regarding the few good editors on either EGM or 1up [mainly 1up.com] I think they will survive, even if 1up goes under or is bought out and outrights devolves into gaming-journalism pseudo-sludge.
Hopefully, the few that survive or possibly leave due to whoever buys 1up out will band together and make an *actual* independent game journalism site to give fresh air in the time of industry saturation and game industry payola. Perhaps they would join joystiq, but i'd much prefer the idea of a separate site and/or entity.
Rich @ Jan 8th 2007 3:37PM
As long as I can still read Hsu and Chan, I'm happy.
Patrick M. @ Jan 8th 2007 7:47PM
anyone know if this includes gamevideos.com?
thejakeman @ Jan 9th 2007 1:15AM
@17
but would you buy it?
JD @ Jan 8th 2007 8:39PM
Good riddance. I feel sorry for the EGM/CGW staff though. There are still some good people there. Too bad they're stuck with Ziff Davis.
Didn't the latest EGM just have a 16(!) page preview of Halo 3? Looked like quite a few photoshop-altered stills to me. Isn't this the same magazine that used to refuse to print non-in-game captures?
SquirrelPhister @ Jan 8th 2007 10:19PM
14. jojo29:
'Nothing new here, EGM has always been a "bought out" mag. Good riddance of trash.'
grow up, dude. EGM is the only videogame magazine left that's worth a damn, and I can personally vouch for their integrity as writers (Crispin's my brother)
whereas many mags long ago gave up credibility by going easy on games in return for adspace dollars, EGM has always taken an independent stand and allowed their reviewers to say exactly what is on their minds.
I realize it's difficult to always tell who's full of shit and who's not, but EGM has always been the magazine to rise above that. I'll always defend EGM, not just because it's part of my family, but because it's actually worth defending. Feel free to disagree with opinions you find in there, but don't go accusing them of selling out because you don't like what they wrote.
yes, my opinion is biased. that does not make it any less valid.
guzman @ Jan 8th 2007 9:32PM
It's being reported that it's already been sold by another game site check this site
dell.1up.com
GhaleonQ @ Jan 9th 2007 12:48AM
*gawks at Crispin's relation*
I'd be happy to see that happen. 1-Up is no replacement for the quality previously held by Electronic Gaming Monthly and Games For Windows, and though I appreciate the Media Group's focus on transitioning some material to the Internet, their magazines' quality has suffered quite a bit (though both had rebounded in 2005).
GhaleonQ @ Jan 9th 2007 12:48AM
*gawks at Crispin's relation*
I'd be happy to see that happen. 1-Up is no replacement for the quality previously held by Electronic Gaming Monthly and Games For Windows, and though I appreciate the Media Group's focus on transitioning some material to the Internet, their magazines' quality has suffered quite a bit (though both had rebounded in 2005).
Dr. John A. Vengeance @ Jan 9th 2007 3:18AM
Wow, Crispin's brother posted. :o
So wait, internet retards, when did the 1UP network become a shill for Microsoft? Since last I checked, the only three MS games they gave half a shit about were the Halos, Gears, and PGR, all of which are, unarguably, excellent games. Also, last I checked, Microsoft is the only one putting their shit out there, while Nintendo is being as secretive-as-fuck as ever, and Sony doesn't have a single goddamn thing to show.
Yes, I think that the network's writing quality can be a little questionable at times, but overall, I think it's way stronger and more focused than anything IGN and most other outlets have ever written. Just because a writer decides to put their own opinion into a piece instead of acting objectively doesn't make the message or quality of the writing worse; as long as there is basis in this opinion, it can work, and for the 1UP network, it most always does.
By the way JD, how is it so strange for Halo 3 to get a 16-page write-up? Last I checked, it's one of the most popular fucking franchises in the country.
jojo29 @ Jan 9th 2007 8:23AM
" realize it's difficult to always tell who's full of shit and who's not, but EGM has always been the magazine to rise above that. I'll always defend EGM, not just because it's part of my family, but because it's actually worth defending"
Sorry there buddy, aside from "your brother" EGM has gone DOWNHILL for years. One only has to look at the October issue. It was ONE MONTH before the Wii and PS3's launch and guess how much coverage they gave those systems? 10 pages AT MOST FOR BOTH consoles, the rest of the magazine is XBOX360. Whatever man, you can believe what you want, you have your opinion, which is INVALID, lol just look at all the comments around here, Im not the only one who think EGM has been going down the crapper for years :P