Ziff Davis: EGM, 1UP publisher files for bankruptcy protection

by Christopher Grant { Mar 5th 2008 at 4:33PM }

Ziff Davis Media, publishers of EGM, Games for Windows Magazine, and 1UP.com, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, in an effort to get their house in order and pay off some of that $390 million in debt they were sitting on last August. What does this all mean? If approved by a court, Ziff will restructure to lighten its debt load ("a total of $400 million") and, theoretically, all of your video gaming properties should continue on with business as usual (we expect to hear as much from one of the 1UP guys in time). Jason Young, CEO of Ziff Davis Media, framed it this way: "Today's restructuring agreement goes a long way towards resolving the burdens of a debt load and capital structure established seven years ago, during a leveraged buyout of the company." More on this as we hear it.

[Thanks, Blizake]

Tags: BreakingNews, EGM, Ziff-Davis

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

baby sea tuna @ Mar 5th 2008 4:36PM

Oh snap! That sucks!

At least they're a corporation, and therefore have more rights than you or I. Imagine if a regular person wanted to do that nowadays...

Nigeria: the graphics have amazing gameplay @ Mar 5th 2008 4:39PM

That's exactly what I was thinking.

jonondaspot @ Mar 5th 2008 6:13PM

DIE! DIE! DIE! EGM AND 1UP!

I can't wait for the day crybaby Dan Hsu has to look for a new job. This is what you get for your bias.

DIE EGM AND 1UP DIE!

Wubbytoes @ Mar 5th 2008 6:49PM

I think you might need to see a therapist about that.

RoboChamp @ Mar 5th 2008 4:38PM

This is awful. I hope the 1-up/EGM guys can stick together, I really like them.

=(

VampireHunter Z @ Mar 5th 2008 4:59PM

No. 1up is crap. They deserve to go bankrupt for the crap that they write. I had to stop visiting the site after repeated biased reviews.

RoboChamp @ Mar 5th 2008 5:06PM

"They deserve to go bankrupt for the crap that they write."

Hm. I can't help but be amused at the irony of your comment, Hunter.

Worsel @ Mar 5th 2008 4:39PM

We've known this was coming for a while, still sucks to hear though. Pull through!

Donald @ Mar 5th 2008 4:39PM

So I have to ask the question - were those free EGM subscriptions an attempt to get people hooked so they'd renew subscriptions, or an attempt to increase subscriber count?

I know ZD has other properties, but their public face is EGM/GFW, so...

ApolloIV @ Mar 5th 2008 5:22PM

I think EGM gets more money from adds in their magazine than from subscription sales. That's why there is 100 fucking adds per ten pages in EGm.

rv @ Mar 5th 2008 4:40PM

Sites like Joystiq are putting them out of business. Convenient, simple, fast, and sometimes funny.

The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Mar 5th 2008 4:42PM

And it doesn't help that Joystiq was giving away free subscriptions to EGM.

Kizzle @ Mar 5th 2008 4:46PM

Those free subscriptions Joystiq was linking to don't help legit subscriptions, but they do help sell advertising ("We have [insert number inflated by free subscription] readers! Advertise with us!")- which is better than nothing.

Still, it's merely a stay of execution. The axe will fall eventually.

Kizzle @ Mar 5th 2008 4:46PM

EGM sucks. Hope this is the beginning of the end. If they put the effort same effort into the rest of their crappy magazine that they put into their "hilarious" replies to their lettercol, they'd be worth reading.

It cracks me up to see people praising that Shoe guy as being some paragon of journalistic integrity and the best there is. The "these companies won't advertise with us anymore" editorial was the biggest round of self-fellating I've ever seen that magazine do (not to mention old, a previous EIC did the same thing in the 90's), and that's saying something.

Good riddance. As Easy Reader on the Electric Company said..."print is dead."

GreyFox @ Mar 5th 2008 4:50PM

For someone who talks alot of shit about them you sure don't offer any sort of valid criticism as to why they are so bad and how they could do better.

Did they hurt your feelings when they cut down your letter to them with a "hilarious" reply?

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 5th 2008 4:55PM

Ah. The Grey Fox! I am honored.

Markez @ Mar 5th 2008 5:00PM

I happen to kind of like the magazine, however 1up.com is one of the most shoddily run websites out there. Absolute garbage. Hell look at the reviews listed on the main page, two listed for Magical Starsign, two listed for Mario vs. DK??? How old are these DS games anyway?!

It's bushleague I say! Hell the last time I can remember actually paying for a videogame mag subscription was Nintendo Power in the days of yore. I mean cmon, it came with an NES game, totally high technical schweet. Have a free subscription to Game Informer now, and before that had a free subscription to EGM.

Vidikron (FU) @ Mar 5th 2008 5:08PM

I prefer EGM's reviews to most others since you get view points from several reviewers. It's not uncommon to see reviewers differ by 2-3 points (on a 10 point scale) on the same game. While at first that may seem bad, it's actually very useful. All you have to do is read each review and see which person most closely matches how you think you would feel about the issues listed.

D_Average @ Mar 5th 2008 5:49PM

I would have to side with Kizzle, that overall, the Magazine blows. For one thing, its about 30 pages long...20 of those pages being ads. Whats unfortunate, the missing pages are not accounted for on 1up.

However, one thing I tip my hat to EGM for is their interviews. They ask some tough questions, and I appreciate that. IGN throws a lot of softballs.

Kizzle @ Mar 5th 2008 7:18PM

GreyFox - nope, I wouldn't waste my time writing a letter to that rag, sorry. Way to grab for the most obvious reply though. Your creative juices must be flowing.

You want to know WHY I think that? Read the fucking thing, it should be free to just about anyone at this point! It's pretty obvious. Althoguh I guess you're an easily amused monkey who thinks their humor is downright knee-slapping. Congrats!

Their reviews...ugh, their reviews. They have a miniscule amount of space to write about games since they insist on splitting it up 3 ways, and then they waste a chunk of THAT arguing with each other or making snarky comments at each other. Nice going!

The internet has made them completely obsolete and they had a bitch of a time trying to adapt, so they resort to "making waves" by - for instance from two years ago - supposedly asking Peter Moore some EXTREMELY TOUGH QUESTIONS...and then let him off the hook when he gives a blow-off answer. Some hard-hitting journalism that is. Then they wait a year to follow up and once again just swallow the corporate spin under the guise of being tough.

But don't you dare say EGM is biased towards ANYTHING! You're likely to get some BIG retaliation...in the form of "Shoe" writing another long-winded, bullshit editorial about how they won't sell out to anyone and they are HERE FOR GAMERS. Are they trying to convince us, or themselves?

I used to enjoy EGM several years ago back when they took their jobs seriously. Now they are not the least bit respectable. Hey, EGM ruled back in the 90's - I remember as far back as 1991 getting a 250+ page issue, and they only got bigger over the next 3-4 years. Sure, they'd thin out during the summer, but once fall/winter rolled around...those things were almost the size of a local telephone book. Yeah, there were a lot of ads, but there was still a ton of content. Stuff like that blows away anything EGM has done in the last 5 or 6 years (the "We think we're hilarious! / Here's more filler" era). The last time I read a really solid article by them was prior to the XBox launch where they had what must have been a sixteen-page or more spread with developers alongside plenty of previously unknown information and a nice dose of respectable journalism as well. That was EIGHT YEARS AGO. Time for this rag to die.

I don't wish unemployment or bad fortune on anyone, but...uh, I don't know how to finish that statement.

GreyFox @ Mar 5th 2008 11:57PM

Kizzle

I agree with some of what you're saying but you missing my previous point: you're slagging them (with even a few good points) without offering, at the very least, better examples of what they should be doing. You just look like you're e-raging because they have to spread their content throughout their printed and online media.

I am a happy owner of their last thick issue: their Halo 2 exclusive back in 2002 or 2003. I miss those :(

D_Average @ Mar 5th 2008 4:45PM

Maybe they should axe the mag and put together a relevant website....worked for IGN

Kendall B @ Mar 5th 2008 4:45PM

Oh wow. This is out of left field.

GreyFox @ Mar 5th 2008 4:47PM

Christ is it ever. Considering most other mags/sites are total garbage that sell their reviews for ad space this is very, very bad for gaming journalism.

aaron_k7 @ Mar 5th 2008 4:47PM

Doh! I wonder why they kept giving out free subscriptions to G4W and EGM? I've been getting G4W free for a long time, and my free EGM subscription just kicked in. Both through Joystiq thanks!

Marty @ Mar 5th 2008 4:50PM

I give Ziff Davis's accounting dept. a 1/10. Oh wait, I mean 'F'.

D_Average @ Mar 5th 2008 4:52PM

The only mag worth reading anymore is EDGE...but its just too damn expensive to ship over the Atlantic...I mean, it's a really big ocean.

Chris @ Mar 5th 2008 5:10PM

I don't like their reviews, but 1Up Yours and Retronauts are the best gaming podcasts out there.

This explains why they have lost so many of their big names recently. I hope if things go bad that Jeremy Parish gets a job at IGN and takes chare of their Retro channel to make it amazing.

Also Karen Chu is hot.

Mr Khan @ Mar 5th 2008 5:12PM

Odd, I wasn't aware they were affiliated. EGM is one of the better gaming mags, while 1UP is one of the worse gaming sites

horngreen @ Mar 5th 2008 5:21PM

1up has seemd rather dead for some time now. Maybe this is why. I'm about to delete it from favorites as it's just not worth going to anymore.

Doom3killer @ Mar 5th 2008 5:58PM

this is terrible. 1UP Yours, GFW Radio, and Legendary Thread are among the best gaming podcasts out there

D_Average @ Mar 5th 2008 6:03PM

Not to suck up or anything, but I'll take Justin's Rare rants about a "Bear, with a bird, in a backpack" over 1up Yours any day!

Ronshatmycarl @ Mar 5th 2008 6:37PM

Amen, next to the Gamers with Jobs one, 1up yours is my favorite podcast, and that is with someone as unlikeable as Shane Bettenhausen. (damn you journalists and your weird names.)

joevill @ Mar 5th 2008 6:04PM

1Up.com is one of my favorite websites, this really does suck!

boing11 @ Mar 5th 2008 6:17PM

I agree with what rv said above. The introduction of blogs and other gaming sites that aren't so "corporate" have really given sites like 1up a lot of competition. I'd much rather visit Joystiq every day for new stories, than sift through all the clutter and noise on sites like 1up.

Fosssil @ Mar 5th 2008 6:45PM

So long as my free subscription to EGM (compliments of Joystiq!) continues on uninterrupted, then I am indifferent.

embassy @ Mar 5th 2008 7:17PM

ah, so this is why the 1up show was a going-away party for a diff memeber of the crew every week.

that show has gotten pretty stale with all the departures.

ApolloIV @ Mar 5th 2008 10:26PM

My Sports Anomaly is not the same without Fragile EAgle

Lijik @ Mar 5th 2008 7:18PM

I hope this works out well for them, I always enjoy the Game Over section in EGM and GFW is one of my favorite mags period.

blorb @ Mar 6th 2008 12:19AM

No love for GFW? It's the best PC magazine out there by far.

embassy @ Mar 6th 2008 12:36AM

but is that really saying much?

not trying to be a dick, i honestly dont know the credibility/standards of PC gaming mags.

phaelix @ Mar 5th 2008 7:21PM

This will not affect 1UP.com or any of their properties in any way! This is a good thing as far as their operating business goes, so don't expect to see any less of EGM, GFW, 1UP.com, the audio and video podcasts (The 1UP Show anyone?), etc. Lighten up!

propanol @ Mar 5th 2008 7:52PM

From a (web) developer standpoint, 1UP is a piece of crap. It's sluggish, very heavy yet manages to deliver astoundingly little information. Not to mention services under the "1UP umbrella" suffer from bandwidth and/or peering problems; I realize Ziff Davis is on the verge of bankruptcy and doesn't have a lot of cash at hand, but gee; if they're really about converting their business to something that'll be around in the next five years (paper press will die, soon enough) I'd figure they'd be interested in making the quality of their new outlets decent.

condor @ Mar 5th 2008 9:58PM

Does this mean I won't be getting my free magazines anymore?

Biggie @ Mar 5th 2008 10:08PM

And I just started a subscription for GFW mag :(

Amos @ Mar 5th 2008 10:24PM

1up really is a terrible excuse for a website. Hell on any user, it's shoddy content/terrible writing aside. Also EGM is terribly pretentious and hasn't actually produced anything worth reading or caring about since...sometime in the '90s? Oh, I read it around 2000 alright, and I enjoyed it. But I was their target market then, young boys reading a magazine that they THOUGHT was catering to adults (the way the 'zine talked), but was really catering to them... idiotic young boys.

Yup, I'm surprised it took them this long to declare bankruptcy. It would honestly IMO just be better for the industry if they had to die and any interested parties could form something new, possibly forcing them to put effort into something that mattered...to anyone.

ogvor @ Mar 5th 2008 11:12PM

I enjoy their podcasts (1up yours and GFW radio) and I have the free joystiq subscriptions to both EGM and GFW (which I enjoy, but probably wouldn't pay for) so I hope nothing happens to their gaming staff. If you listen to their podcasts (especially GFW radio) I think its hard to say their "bias". Sometimes they just don't like the game you like. It's called an opinion, deal with it.

And besides, if they were bias for a specific company, wouldn't you think their secret overlords would at least keep them in business?

Courtney @ Mar 5th 2008 11:18PM

Never have been a big 1up reader. I did sign up for the free EGM sub though. Got the first one this week and was shocked. My memories of EGM 15-years-ago was a big freaking magazine packed with stuff. Now it's more like a pamphlet (point of note, I can't say for sure that EGM was actually awesome when I was a kid, only that I remember it being so).

D_Average @ Mar 5th 2008 11:58PM

Just received my first free mag too and had the exact same experience, pity

Merdok @ Mar 6th 2008 1:31AM

GFW (formerly CGW) actuly has perty high standards or atleast that is what I get from the podcasts and such. I take this just from the way they talk about there magizine .

thats my opinion atleast

(Yes i know I cant spell to lazy to spell check on a comment)

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