IGN Entertainment sold to j2 Global

IGN Entertainment sold to j2 Global

IGN Entertainment has been sold to j2 Global for an undisclosed sum.  J2 Global is the parent company of Ziff Davis, which operates popular tech sites like pcmag.com, toolbox.com, and geek.com.  The deal includes IGN.com, 1UP.com, and askmen.com, among other properties.

In 2005, News Corp purchased IGN for $650M.  The move hasn’t paid off the way the company intended, and while the exact figures of the deal to j2 Global are unknown, it’s far less than the original purchase price.  Earlier indications were that the shopping price of IGN Entertainment was in the realm of $100M.  Granted, IGN Entertainment had sold some other websites since it’s original acquisition in 2005, but this sale to j2 Global is much less than the company was originally bought for.

By acquiring IGN Entertainment’s portfolio of sites, Ziff Davis now has one of the largest bodies of tech sites on the web.  The company already boasted top sites like pcmag.com, and by adding extremely popular sites like ign.com, it has become one of the go-to site for video games and technology.

Robert Birmingham is Editor-in-chief at flydrs.com.