IGN Buys Gamer Network... But What About DF?

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[@borrellipatrick]

Go independent, call yourselves Analog Foundry 💪

[@devilzavacado8430]

They are independent? Like rich said, gamer network has shares in DF, they don't own them. It's pretty much a partnership.

[@Neosword89]

​@@devilzavacado8430Shares could be 20%, 50% or 70% He never stated who has a majority stake.

[@djtomoy]

That doesn’t make sense

[@SteelSkin667]

Rich has a majority stake. We've asked him on the patreon Discord (a while back actually) and he is in control.

[@environm3ntalist549]

@@Neosword89 look at Companies House records. They are a minority stake, having somewhere between 25 and under 50% of shares.

[@Jamesfo8rf]

Hoping DF is not affected by this takeover. It’s one of few good channels on KZbin.

[@Kingofconsoles54]

Nope. DF is paid by microcock.

[@Kabodanki]

Rich is finally rich

[@Jamesfo8rf]

@@Kabodanki Ferrari on the drive 😂

[@jordanmcmillan2667]

anyone with any sense will leave them to get on with it, with whatever support they need

[@SteelSkin667]

Have you... watched the video?

[@lawyerlawyer1215]

IGN buying so many review channels, guess now every game is going to be a 7 across the board

[@ergonomics_of_flatulence]

7.8 too much water

[@spong1348]

7/10 * 60fps = 42fps new DF frame rate target confirmed

[@lawyerlawyer1215]

@@ergonomics_of_flatulence One review: great graphics! Great story! Good gameplay! Proceeds to mention a couple nit picks and because of them: 7/10 Next review: Terrible optimization, Boring gameplay, over used story ideas with predictable ending, outdated graphics 7/10 😂

[@ikwilgeenkanaalzeur]

A little bit for everyone.

[@TigerTT]

They want all kinds of shovelware to get 7 out of 10s lmao.

[@tomalexander4327]

Richard is not happy about this.

[@metv1221]

But John is 💯 %

[@tomalexander4327]

@@metv1221 not about the job losses

[@metv1221]

@tomalexander4327 of course not about the jobs lose, but the connections and centric of the network, yes they're all happy for now.

[@danielditlev]

Ask anyone who was bought by the company behind IGN if they were happy a year later.

[@Zveebo]

They are shielded a fair bit by the fact that DF is JV with Rich and his family owning 50%.

[@kothanmalvein8455]

That sigh at 0:45 tells us everything we need to know lol

[@chrisward000]

The strange thing for me is that I had pretty much forgotten IGN even exists, let alone how big they are. I guess I may have unwittingly browsed a subsidiary website, but I stopped paying any attention to the main IGN site for new or reviews many years ago.

[@BaBaBenny93]

IGN has actually improved quite a bit.

[@HanmaHeiro]

​@@BaBaBenny93not by the measure of this acquisition

[@butchdeadlift7551]

I stopped following them in 2012 or so. I loved them and listened to all their podcasts back in the 360 era. Three Red Lights and GameScoop! were awesome. Much less corporate and more just some guys who play videogames for a living shitposting for an hour and a half.

[@xxnike0629xx]

I guess time will tell how this acquisition will impact Digital Foundry.

[@Kingofconsoles54]

DF is paid by microcock

[@thedigitaljedi3243]

As a person that has been affected by several mergers over the course of my working career, often times things don't end well. There are usually several rounds of downsizing and terminations. Companies will often sell the idea of "Don't worry the worst is over" and then BOOM! Additional terminations occur. I would encourage these men to be cautious and prepare to go independent if things don't go well. Always have a backup plan to feed your family and yourself.

[@Fattydeposit]

This buyout will be pretty typical. Workers will get squeezed, execs will roll around in cash and the question of whether full independence from multinational conglomerates is achievable will roll around. Good luck.

[@mmo5366]

Gotta find a way to buy all those shiny yachts!

[@Lollikips]

Go independent. Y'all are the world's most trusted, most factual source for information like this. Hope IGN keeps their hands off, if not, split off.

[@vectoralphaSec]

No money in that.

[@S6Ryujin]

@@vectoralphaSecthey would actually probably start making more money once the viewers that are ignoring ign and leaving them in droves learns that they are unrelated to ign and kotaku and the rest

[@xbotnpc420]

@@S6Ryujinno not really

[@S6Ryujin]

@@xbotnpc420 who knows ig, but i wish the best for em regardless

[@glenmcl]

I think you'll find that's GNexus

[@Melsharpe95]

IGN preemptively firing a whole bunch of people before the deal was even finalised is NOT a good look going forward. People have long suspected that IGN trades positive coverage for ad revenue.

[@cybervand]

DF went from Arasaka to Miltech

[@SussedRage]

The damn corpos are ruining everything

[@GamingCatBytes]

RUN from IGN. Go independent.

[@MarioGoatse]

100%. I cannot trust IGN to not apply pressure on DF. I do not what their grubby hands on something I trust

[@danielyanezgarrido]

@@MarioGoatse ign has some cool people honestly I dont think their as bad nowadays.

[@dreamingthelife]

​@@danielyanezgarridoIf they were cool they wouldn't buy up their competitors

[@seguramlk]

They're just shills for the highest bidders ​@@danielyanezgarrido

[@thequinlanshow3326]

​@@MarioGoatseyou are a nintendo fanboy. The fuck does "trust" matter when the company you love is easily one of the most evil/untrustworthy companies in gaming

[@shawty10ize]

If IGN is pressured to give a game a great review, hopefully DF can still report if its frame rate is trash.

[@smashinghappydays]

Pressured…? Uhhhh you mean paid right?

[@simpson6700]

@@smashinghappydays look up access journalism. if they give a game a bad review, the company can threaten them to not give them early access review keys anymore.

[@DaviMourao]

I hope so too. I immediately thought of how differently IGN and Digital Foundry reviewed the PS Portal.

[@Evilkingus]

Richard: "I, For One, Welcome Our New Insect Overlords"...

[@nintendoconvert4045]

😂

[@MINI_91]

I always see buy outs by big companies as the beginning of the end. I hope that is not the case for DF, but I fear the worst because of how the game industry has become rotten to the core and because of the history of other buy outs.

[@DP12321]

Corporate consolidation is a curse.

[@soundthatyoucansee123]

It'd be nice if they could rebrand and go independent like Escapist/Second Wind. Also IGN is pretty much an SEO and Ad company first.

[@Lego_Fish]

But they were bought by a smaller company.

[@nathandts3401]

From events company to marketing company.

[@jiface]

Refreshing to see this level of transparency

[@pmacnz]

Here comes the paywall

[@James.Gatsby]

can IGN, Kotaku, polygon and TheGamer just go away completely.

[@CheckmateStallioN]

IGN is becomming another monopoly as if we don't already have a huge one that closes studios left and right. Not only are their journalists a joke who play games in story aka journalist mode and have severely limited gaming knowledge outside the current AAA games, but the company went downhill after the PS360 era when Greg and Colin left. It is a complete shitshow now. Hope DF stays independent

[@brianp6859]

Exactly! IGN used to be pretty great and accurate back then. Glad to hear DF atleast has enough of their own control that they won't be forced down a similar path

[@vectoralphaSec]

Greg and Colin were the best part of IGN back in the day.

[@austinnafziger4159]

While I agree that their articles are not super great, dont throw shade on story/easy mode. I love games but dont have a bunch of time as an adult to play them. I want to experience the game and relax, not get my ass kicked. All game modes are valid.

[@amnril]

IGN now is like MTV is now….. sh1t.

[@RazoRaptor93]

Oh no.

[@KeepingItFishy]

You guys should go indie, you have massive support from us ❤

[@florisbackx1744]

Emotional support or financial support? Would all those supporters be willing to pay for the content?

[@juanalvarado7794]

I always thought DF was a KZbin channel casted by 4 people. Wtf do investors want and how does DF produce enough income? 😮😮😮

[@MrDahlbacken]

This.

[@vectoralphaSec]

Anything "Big" nowadays is owned by a company/ corporation. If there is money to be made rest assured there's a corporate entity involved.

[@DioBrando-qr6ye]

I think Rich is the owner, the other guys are employees.

[@DS9TREK]

Casted isn't a word

[@florisbackx1744]

Well,. judging by the already existing partnership (the half that has been bought) DF them selves wanted extra funding. It seems your perspective on what DF actually is is different from what DF them selves think it is.

[@ShadowMelt]

OMG this gaming industry as a whole including journalism is going through something

[@Aidan.17]

Acquisitions are never good in my experience. Most of the time the only redundancies were managers replaced by managers from the new company but occasionally e.g. my last one they went to the front line workers and literally destroyed the company by aiming to remove 30% of workers and lost over 40 years of combined front line proprietary software knowledge. Many that were offered roles chose redundancy instead because we realised they had absolutely no idea of the damage they were doing. They ended up losing 60% of staff from our team alone.

[@NitinGopinathan]

I can't see a big org like IGN not wanting to influence what gets published on Digital Foundry. Glad to see that your crew is protected for now though. Your audience will go whevever you go, the name/brand does not matter!

[@thebiguglygamer]

il give it 6 months before ign try to influence scores or negative comments aimed at publishers and devs who are lazy.

[@PikaDikaChu]

Alex and IGN will be fine with their Stellar Blade unrealistic character model stance

[@MarioGoatse]

That game was extremely misogynistic. My wife's boyfriend won't even let me play it!

[@poethefallen1333]

​@@MarioGoatse lol

[@cyshadowx]

Don't sell ur soul ur worth ur small business to a corporate conglomerate of any kind they will never have ur best interests at heart they feed of life

[@RankAndFileGuy]

The main worry is whether this will influence tech reports on newly released games or will it affect those tests. IGN is known for practicing access journalism and having skew their reviews for publishers. Lets hope that doesn't happen.

[@rufio86]

IGN loves throwing it's political opinions into everything. One of the things I like about DF is you don't (or very rarely). I subscribe and listen for gaming etc and that's all I get which is great. Hope this won't change things

[@megabyte01]

If it doesnt work out, take the second wind route!

[@mukulnag1578]

Df is one of the few truly great gaming channels on KZbin... Hopefully and atleast as this is a partnership they will remain like that ...

[@NextNate03]

Rich said if they don't like it that they could just leave. Its not that simple. Rich would have to buy back the other parties shares if DF wants to leave. The other parties also might not want to sell either.

[@jdanielortega]

How much of DF did Gamer Network own? Hopefully this does not impact the impeccable timing, topics, coverage and perspectives we've always gotten from the DF team for many years. Thanks for keeping us posted and let us know how everything evolves.

[@rx1834]

-Between 25 and 50%- edit: actually, looking at their filings, it looks like they own 50%. Rich owns 25% and some other dude has the remaining 25%.

[@jdanielortega]

@@rx1834 Oof, thanks for digging those numbers up, hopefully this does not have a negative impact on the channel and team.

[@jarde1989]

IGN being Anti Xbox Acquisition is hilariously hypocritical now lol

[@bigjus3751]

IGN are just anti Xbox anything...

[@gothpunkboy89]

In what way?

[@DioBrando-qr6ye]

They turned out to be right though. Also, the people who write on the site are not the same as the bosses who manage the company.

[@DioBrando-qr6ye]

​@@bigjus3751Good, Xbox is a cancer on the gaming industry.

[@glenmcl]

​@@gothpunkboy89In every way

[@jayplays9976]

Wait, doesn't this mean you guys and Michael Thompson's game analyses are now in the same bucket?

[@rrnnbncykabazooka]

Paid DF performance test results incoming! £1000 per frame increase sound good?

[@psumwahn6281]

Thanks for the frank and open discussion guys, really hope it all works out!

[@CeezGeez]

oh god no. please not ign

[@FurBurger151]

I have no respect for IGN. The damage they have done to the gaming industry is unacceptable. Best of luck for the future.

[@BJAdamBarry]

What damage have they done?

[@FurBurger151]

@@BJAdamBarry Consistently pandering to Microsoft owned products giving out false reviews ratings to prop up shitty games and in most likely paid for reviews. I've been gaming for 35years so I'm no gullible chump but there are plenty of others who really on reviews to make wise purchases but giving out good ratings off of lies is very damaging for the trust and respect of all gamers. All just to keep shareholders happy with profits.

[@BJAdamBarry]

@@FurBurger151 or it didn't, KZbin deletes comments all the time. There's nothing unusual about that.

[@nocap7778]

​@@FurBurger151Yeah it's most Likely YT.

[@FurBurger151]

@@BJAdamBarry Very possible.

[@divinitymode9364]

Be interested to know what this means for Michael Thomson (aka NXGamer) and IGN’s brilliant game tech guy…

[@awesomereviews1561]

Alex has his place secured on IGN’s roster thanks to some of his takes 😂.

[@hihihi1q23]

Are you guys still upset he didn't like your 6/10 soulless coomer game?

[@ReapsVsTheWorld1]

Thank you for the transparency. Wishing you all the best with the new partnership.

[@segaboy128]

Long live digital foundry!! Please keep your same quality! We want your quality content forever!!

[@ClassicSteve]

You make your company public, you have to accept that you may be bought out, be changed, sacked etc. Stay private if you dont want to accept the risk. The thing is, most companies want that sweet investor money.

[@carvman217]

The most unfortunate thing… if they really cared they wouldn’t have gone public in the first place. Oh well, yet another channel from the old days gone…

[@SteelSkin667]

DF isn't publicly traded. IGN merely bought a minority stake in DF that was formerly owned by ReedPop.

[@environm3ntalist549]

@@carvman217 what are you talking about. Richard has full control of the company, not IGN who are a minority stake.

[@harissonbond7499]

Does he really have full control ? or does he answer to share holders. Answering to share holders is not full control as you put it.

[@environm3ntalist549]

@@harissonbond7499 he has full control

[@koresoteira447]

With this news IGN has just confirmed the death of independent professional game coverage. Sad times. They are NOT fully invested in the gaming industry. They are invested in advertsing revenue generated by an established audience.

[@DioBrando-qr6ye]

It was already dead. Gaming journalists are not "professional" anymore for at least a decade.

[@florisbackx1744]

Objectively an honest question, how else would gaming media generate income other than through marketing?

[@HanmaHeiro]

Do you consider KZbinrs who review games to be independent?

[@gzzuss]

​@@DioBrando-qr6yeit's not the journalist it's about the business model sites need clicks!

[@PhantomHarlock78]

Dont hire people who dont like games and gamers as IGN does.

[@OmegaPhattyAcid]

I worked for Enthusiast Gaming and nothing good came from that acquisition and the new company basically fired off the whole team I worked with and only allowed SEO trend articles so I left

[@ambrosiajam8008]

IGN buying out competition and closing them down. Unbelievable and they can piss up a rope. I like gamescoop and sometimes NVC but i think im done with them for good

[@ahmet4yildirim]

Committed to the games (Wants to dominate gaming media). I've taken an eye from time to time on the websites that were acquired by IGN; they were really bloated by ads and non-sense, non-user-friendly comments. People working in these companies are probably trying their best to produce something meaningful, but when they have to please their bosses, it's not easy. I'm not feeling bad about those "dead" companies. Most of them wasn't bringing anything new to the table. On the other hand, IGN, is just another big company trying to make more and more money. They don't care about the quality of the content; they care about profiting from the content. I hope that encourages those people to go independent. I hope the people who lost their jobs could recover from that.

[@skycloud4802]

All go it alone independently to protect integrity.

[@glenmcl]

Money talks. It's their employment. DF will bend the knee.

[@Zetler]

Business as usual? He should have started with that.

[@MasterOfNone88]

DF is the only Video Game Channel I Actually Watch and Enjoy. Even my wife knows all the guys on DF by name (I have DF playing 24/7 in my house). 😂😂😂. #GoIndependent

[@winj3r]

Considering that IGN already had NXGamer doing tech reviews, similar to DF, does this create a conflict? Or is it a new opportunity for collaboration?

[@MarioGoatse]

I am not sure if I can trust DF under IGN. I can never be sure of what sort of pressure they are applying. I don't like it

[@doctorknow]

this is devastating news! for me IGN is the antithesis of DF. I'd trust the opinion of my cat before anything IGN produces. Hope at least the money was so much you guys can start over elsewhere

[@DoinThatRag]

I hope honesty commentary at DF is not compromised now and influenced from the trolls at IGN. The only thing that gives me hope is that they don't fully outright own DF. It's pretty simple, you either work for yourself, or you work for someone else and have to do whatever they want or you won't be there anymore.

[@CuttinInIdaho]

Say it isn't so...please keep your integrity...please! I speak for many when I say we hate IGN.

[@philipford6183]

Unfortunately, bean counters don't trade in sentiment. I've been made redundant from every design job I ever held (some for many years). Things change. New people come in with new priorities, etc. Steel yourselves and rehearse your arguments viz-a-viz 'what value does DF represent?' Remember, they're only concerned with the economics of it all. Does it add up 'going forward'?

[@raydilly3142]

Here's hoping for a long and prosperous future for Digital Foundry. You guys are the best!

[@youtubevanced4900]

Really looking forwards to Digital Foundry becoming a game guide channel crammed full of ads. Don’t worry though you can still make the same technical content right after you finish your 15 game guides per person per week.

[@chamamemestre]

Well, it was good while it lasted. Rich looks pissed, John looks pleased but pissed that Rich is not pleased and the other dude is just afraid he might (probably) lose his job.

[@quinnd6]

I stopped watching anything from IGN or going to their website because I heard they had a part to play in getting Stellar Blade censored. I also boycotted Gamespot and Forbes articles and vids also so DF were the only video game channel left with professional journalists that I watched so this is bad news for me. The whole Stellar Blade censorship problem turned me off IGN so for gaming and tech I came here instead to avoid them. It actually feels a bit like DF are selling their soul to the devil.

[@StreetComp]

Been watching this channel for many years and have been helped and entertained so thank you. Its clear all of you personally care about the games biz so hope everything works out

[@Gabrilos505]

For some reason that Alan question made me think about the possibility of we having a Corpo War, but then I realized I was just playing Cyberpunk way too much lately

[@Sladey1601]

Imagine being owned by IGN of all publishers 🤣

[@cygnusx7]

Great to hear basically everything that was said here! DF is one of my top favorite YT channels an definitely a force for good in the gaming community/industry. Also a big compliment to Richard for building DF (together with an awesome team, who may be "stealing your thunder" sometimes :P). Hope to see (all of) you being successful for a long time to come!

[@af4396]

I'd be very surprised if you couldn't go independent or find another partnership. Obviously, I don't know the nature of your contracts, but you guys have the talent, the charisma and the viewership to 100% go independent from that standpoint. I've always been negative about acquisitions, and I'm right to be negative about them 99.999999% of the time it seems. Hope you guys will one day have your own "Independence Day" :P

[@attackthebacklog]

For a company with such a rigid outlook on the industry such as IGN, their acquiring more companies is a depressing and worrying thing

[@wmv8996]

Doesn't IGN have videos similar to digital foundry already?

[@s0jabohne]

You had me worried there for a minute. The fact that quite a few people were made redundant is really crap. Thanks for explaining the background and ownership so thoroughly!

[@Amp5150]

ah no wonder you guys have been shilling for higher priced new releases and all digital future

[@fcukugimmeausername]

I think that if IGN were to start impacting DF, Rich should start a new version of DF called Independent Digital Gaming Associated Foundry. Or, IDGAF as short.

[@shitoryu8]

Kinda shocked when i first heard this.

[@bryana2415]

There goes DF's credibility... Would love it if you guys go independent!

[@chiahippo]

Sorry, I give it 2 - 3 years before DF is shutdown or changes for the worse. The same thing happened with GameTrailers.

[@p34ksgg]

Acquisitions are absolutely filled with trepidation, having been through one myself a couple of years ago, albeit in a different industry. All you can do is hope that the new stakeholders include you as part of their grand plans, and considering IGN aren’t majority shareholders of DF, DF are in the best position they can be in.

[@targetrender9529]

I think the best thing would be to go Indy. Even if Richard owns the majority stake, I don’t want the minority investors meddling.

[@kebrus]

Yeah... This will ruin them... They are already wanting to change, to them "for something better" but they fail to realize that change is not welcome, people hate change, if anything you can only change little by little, people love consistency but even that takes time, their constraints from the previous owner might very well be the thing they needed What will happen to their creative freedom? What happens if they say something ign doesn't agree with or finds offensive? What happens if ign decides they want to do more tech analysis? Will they just force you to participate in their stuff? This may be the end what people loved to be the start of what a corporation loves to exploit. Sad

[@RmnGnzlz]

Sadly money is money. For example BlackRock doesn't actually own Sony... but we know when they twist that arm with their financial weight, Sony can't afford to say no.

[@beachlife2968]

Blackrock are very powerful. They only need around 7.5% of the shares along with Vanguard to bounce any company into doing what they want. They score companies on how diverse they are. They are behind the very unpopular ads for Gillette and and Bud Light. They don't care about destroying a few brands as they are swimming in profitability with companies like Nvidia. They are the reason why so many companies have laid off workers recently. They are very intertwined with the WEF. They are evil.

[@jarde1989]

No arms are being twisted Sony happy takes the money and does what is asked

[@2intheampm512]

What exactly are you insinuating here

[@RmnGnzlz]

@@2intheampm512 When the people that are responsible for the stability of your paychecks ask you to do "a little thing" for them it's hard to stick to your guns. Even a man like Richard would find it hard if his own livelihood is on the line. It's easier to do that kind of thing when you are young and alone without other people depending on you.

[@apxjibs]

upmost respect for the transparency and candid opinions. you aren't the goat for no reason

[@namewithdrawn3148]

Nice knowing you guys. . .

[@Kingofconsoles54]

it brings a smile to my face, knowing DF might close down.

[@lowmax4431]

@@Kingofconsoles54 bruh whut? What could possibly make you say this?

[@nouryy]

​@@Kingofconsoles54 a tad harsh, no?

[@FreddyKruegerRealEstate]

@@nouryy Not really. Maybe he hates digital Foundry and he's just speaking his honest truth as it stands. He might actually feel that way, and it's not harsh at all. He could even be underselling how he actually feels.... he might have a pin-up over his bed at night of John Linnemans face, that he throws darts at? 🤷

[@nandoman4769]

@@Kingofconsoles54certified clown comment🤡

[@rx1834]

So what's the ownership split? If you're not telling us then there is something to worry about.

[@oo--7714]

He literally said he owns 50% of the shares. Ign owns the other 50% shares.

[@rx1834]

​@@oo--7714 In this video? I don't think so. I doubt he'd say that at all because according to their paperwork he only owns 25%.

[@andytabor3829]

Tom sat in the corner low key shitting it through the first half of this

[@Hirens.]

Wish you the best of luck guys! Keep up the good work!

[@pillington1338]

IGN is garbage, I really dislike this acquisition. If IGN looks like it's affecting the quality of DF even a little bit I'll be pulling my patreon funding. I really hope IGN can keep their hands off (or provide help or funding while letting Digital Foundry make their own decisions).

[@BUPMY1]

I always thought these are just dudes reviewing the technical aspect of games on KZbin.

[@Cynnthetic]

Just leave and make your own outlet guys. We will support you.

[@carlharrison3637]

IGN buying DF is going to ruin how you do things. they wont let you review games they dont want you to, or say anything that you want. Time to go on your own guys. You'll have an army of loyal followers who appreciate your work.

[@mmmmigs]

good for you guys! keep rockin

[@DeeDeeCHAUNCEY]

Lol

[@danwong2191]

Ign is chalk and cheese with DF. Should contemplate an exit strategy in the mid term

[@purehyperbole5727]

Can anyone explain to me if DF is bigger than I know? It doesn't seem to put out many videos on KZbin. Does it do much other stuff?

[@CuttinInIdaho]

Quality of content over quanitiy. DF is a valuable entity separate from people who cannot discern value.

[@DS9TREK]

They make £140,000 per year just from KZbin advertising on their main channel. Plus they have other income sources such as the clips channel, their merchadise sales, etc

[@nintendoconvert4045]

IGN Presents: Digital Foundry

[@frogfarmer3551]

I dont understand how ign even still exists tbh

[@nocap7778]

MICROSOFT

[@kylerclarke2689]

It would be a tremendous shame to see digital foundry affected by this. Whatever happens, wherever the team goes we will follow.

[@jngobngo]

Best of luck nothing negative affects you. No interest in the corporate clown show of IGN

[@poethefallen1333]

Ugh....I fucking hate IGN their journalism is garbage, hope they won't taint DF with their BS

[@bmdshred77]

Cataferal? Is that a cataclysm wow reference??

[@Melsharpe95]

Yup, Tom loved himself some feral druid back in the day.