IGN Game Journos FAFO?! More LAYOFFS Announced!

0:00Lot'say for Keenan? That's me. Hey, you're... Yeah. Buying a car online on Auto Trader? Really? But unlike other sites, you can start online, test drive with a local dealer, then finish online, or at the dealership. Really? Wait, are you? Yep, it's Keenan. Able to finish in person without starting the process over? Really. Your info stays with you every step of the way. Cool. Enjoy. It's Keenan Thompson. Buy your car online on Auto Trader. Really. So, it looks like IGN just laid a bunch more journalists off, including some of their video people, their podcast people. I'm gonna try to make sense of it. This is the first I've heard of it. I just saw this, and it's making the rounds, and of course gaming journals are big mad about it, and look, I understand the sucks. But it's not hard to see why this happened. Basically, these kinds of websites right now are collapsing.

1:01The organic traffic from Google has been shut off, and a lot of gamers turned off the traffic years ago. Let's be real here. IGN is one of those sites that really is not trusted, like it used to be. Actually, I would say IGN hasn't been trusted in probably 20 plus years. Right? Like, back in the day, they were pretty good, and now they're just a mouthpiece for whatever corporation is paying the advertising. That's not the way it is. But I'm not surprised by this at all, and I think we're gonna see more of this. I said before that, when the dust clears, there will be very, very few video game news websites, very few pop culture or fandom websites, because they're not, they were never really super profitable. But they're so niche, and Google, again, is just not sending traffic. There are any more, you have to fight to get found, and even if you have Facebook, or you have a big social media presence, mostly you have to pay to send traffic to your website now.

2:01So it does make a lot of sense. It really doesn't. And this is coming from a guy who recently shut down, basically shut down the clownfish TV website, as it was, we used to do. That's a, that's a great thing. Now we used to actually have a separate site out there that had a whole bunch of articles, news and all that. It got to a point where I'm like, there's not enough traffic to really justify the amount of time that we're spending on this one. So let's just roll everything in the sub stack and call today. And that's, that's basically what we're doing. You can go out to clownfishtv.com, by the way, and there is pay world content out there. But it's not, it's not quite the site it used to be. And we own several websites. We've seen the clients pretty much across the board. There are a couple of verticals. There's still a hold on, but, but gaming, pop culture news, Disney news, like nobody gives it shit anymore. They don't. And even if they did give a shit, Google's going to make sure that you never get found. And this has been going on for about two years now.

3:07I've been telling people this. They thought I was being alarmist. It's like, bitch, I have been working on the internet for over 20 years. Like I know traffic patterns when I see them. And I saw the writing on the wall about two years ago. We actually started laying off some of our writers, because I'm like, I know what's coming. It's a meteorite. And it's here. And not even IGN is immune to it. And honestly, what the product I do is replace a lot of these guys with AI or actually India. Let's be real. The AP. We did. If you go out to clownfishtv.com. And you look up this video. We just did a couple days ago. American journalism got outsourced to India on clownfishtv.com. We talk about that. The AP is sending all their video and podcasting, editing overseas because it's cheaper. They don't have to deal with the unions. And we'll talk about that because I think part of the reason that we're looking at this, this existential crisis for gaming journalism is actually the unions making threats.

4:14Against their employers when things are bad. And this last year on aftermath. Now after math to their credit, they were a bunch of gaming journals who got together and built their own site. Yeah, so they are doing it themselves, right. But this was and these guys used to work for like polygon and catacomal those sites, right. But last year they had layoffs about this time. I think it was last last August. And they said they're they're done. We're not going to pick up the slack for our laid off workers anymore. We're all going to stand in solidarity and we're going to blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, now a whole bunch more people got laid off. Right. So all you did. I'm telling you all you did is just give your employers the heads up that you're going to be difficult and passive aggressive. And they're going to look for a way to get rid of you. And it's here now. So we're going to talk about this before you get to the day further. Please subscribe for more pop culture news views and Ranskis gang got the clownfish TV.com. You can check out all the podcasts and videos out there. You will not find on this site. We've got audio versions of the podcasts out there as well. And we're going to be ramping up content. I might be doing livestreams over there again pretty soon. We'll see.

5:24I'm thinking about I'm thinking about got the blue sky and you're going to find that the top result for the layoffs is Alyssa Mercante. Consolidation and layoffs are not good no matter what drawing slack job assholes might say. Solidarity with all my layoff folks. Fuck IGN. Well, I don't think you're going to be working for IGN anytime soon. Alyssa, but here we go. This come from aftermath IGN ownership chooses busiest time of games media in years to lay off a bunch of people. Well, yeah, because it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. If the traffic's not there, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what's going on the news cycle. And here's the thing. People are going out to podcasts. You're going out to YouTube. They're going out to independent sites. They're not going to IGN in the numbers they use to or it's not profitable to pay you people in particular. When they can go to again, actually India and probably get five people for what cost have one of you. And they're probably not going to be on social media.

6:24Bitching about the capitalist and the Nazis like Elon Musk and all this other crazy shit. They're just going to write about games. That's that's you know, and hopefully right articles are going to attempt to bring traffic. But I think it's a declining. It really is a declining game at this point. It's it's we're on the we're on the other side of it. So again, aftermath Zift Davis, the media company that currently owns IGN, along with Eurogamer RPS more. Yeah, they all consolidated. Remember a couple of years ago. There's this massive consolidation. We used to have like 40 or 50 of these game sites. And most of them were started by individual gamers. And they had the best of intentions. And then one by one, they all got gobbled up by these corporations. And then they all wound up under IGN or a lot of them did. It's like IGN Valnet. And there's like one or two other companies own the majority of the video game websites out there. Not that it matters because you will never find them. It's Google has made sure of it, right.

7:24His first report by Katakue, the layoffs have hit multiple departments across video game websites business, most prominently affecting the popular and long serving video presenters. Seth, Macy and Brian, Altono. Now I do know IGN gets a lot of video traffic. I don't know if their videos get a lot traffic per se, but you know, they're going to look at and be like, how much do we got pay these guys? And what kind of return are we getting on our investment tech writer, Bo Moore has shared he has been laid off the same day as his coverage of valve steam frame launch was on the site's front page. Oh, they don't give a shit. It's not the first time Zift Davis has conducted sweeping rounds layoffs at what is still the world's most popular video game website. Yeah, they're going to be a last one standing. IGN's union last year engaged in a workplace strategy of no more no less after job cuts and buyouts left many sectors of the network stretching to cover the work of those no longer there, well, just a few months back several tech workers were also let go. Again, you told them you're going to be difficult. They're going to find a way to replace you.

8:29You are expensive. I mean, just telling you from the business perspective, you're expensive and the advertising is drying up because the views aren't there like they used to be. I just went out to this is press gazette dot code dot UK and they're talking about just a couple days ago, the top 50 US news websites, the biggest traffic drops at Newsweek, Daily Mail and business insider in August. Shevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason with SUVs made to move with your rhythm. The versatile equinox tackles your entire day. The spacious traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend and tracks bring style with value you can count on all infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right court. Adventure awaits in a new Chevy right now get $500 bonus cash on select Chevy tracks models plus get 2.9% financing on all 2026 tracks models together.

9:32Let's drive your Southern California Chevy dealers. Bonus cash is available on 2026 Chevy tracks LT enacted terms only 2.9% AP offered 36 months monthly payment is $2904 for every 1000 new finance example, the payment 11% must finance with GM financial some customers may not qualify not available with lease and some of their offers take to retail delivery by 9 3026. All these sites are declining. They're all seeing massive massive hits Newsweek saw the biggest drop of 72% 72% year over year daily mail is down 45% business insiders down 42% all three sites are among those to have spoken about following search traffic following the arrival and subsequent further expansion into news of Google's AI overviews and they've all made job cuts this year. They're now focused on building relationships with their most loyal audiences pay walls. For example, the daily meals premium pay wall business insiders shift toward coverage areas that matter most to us readers such as workplace markets. Yeah, they got stopped doing fluff articles and just focus on what brings traffic.

10:37The biggest drop was at political down 23% Al Jazeera was down 22% the biggest year on your growth was actually see against not all sectors the biggest year on your growth was at men's journal. It's knocked out the daily beast men's journal saw it's monthly visits grow by 130% what was up 41% compared to July second biggest year on your growth was India times the India times up 114%. Just saying it's it's really interesting. Yeah, the ecosystem is changing and I'm sorry video game journalism pop culture journalism. Disney journalism all a shit none of this is as popular as it was a few years ago. Just to begin with and then to add the Google AI thing on top of it. It's just yeah, it's it's not it's not good business. So yeah, they're going to cut people back.

11:38They said they're just back to aftermath. They said there have also been several rounds of layoffs across the site's Zift Davis purchase from the gamer in 2024, including games industry euro gamer and rock paper shotgun. IGN's union has yet to comment on the way out so they're going to get rid of all their unionized employees before it's all said and done because you guys cost too much and you can plane. And they want your asses there so they can replace you with a robot or somebody from India they're going to do it. So I seriously would keep your resume updated. I mean this I'm not being facetious. I'm not being like meaner, meaner. I'm telling you I own websites. I've been doing this for years. This is the worst I've ever seen it is not going to get better. It's not going to magically come back to life. Google is not going to go back to what it was before. So this business model is basically dead. IGN will survive as a brand of nothing else. They'll pivot in the video. I know all these journals hate that pivot the video, but that's what they're going to do.

12:40But it's not going to have a lot of these guys in there. They're going to you know they're probably like we could just do like AI explainer videos about classic games or whatever people are looking for on Facebook and we're going to make more money. Then hiring who are these guys again. I never actually watch IGN Seth Macy and Brian, Altono. Yeah. We don't have to pay Seth and Brian anymore. We'll just have somebody in India whip up some AI videos talking about the history of like Super Mario Brothers or something you know or fortnight tips or some shit like that or we'll just steal it from people. They've done that before. Who knows. So this is what the IGN creators guild said today was an awful day at IGN. We were blindsided by the layoff of four union members many more people across the organization who contributed years of their careers to making IGN and I'm not going to do that. IGN an unparalleled voice in games and their payment with each successive layoff core parts of IGN's operation continue to be stripped away today.

13:40IGN has decided to do with many of our talented producers editors host another crucial roles. Debatable if it was crucial they would have gotten rid of you. I'm just saying just saying I try to be a dick. I'm just saying both within and out of the union how many layoffs will occur before we no longer recognize the company we work for in the content we make. Oh, that ship sailed years ago, honey. It's like IGN is not what it used to be. I remember IGN back in the early 2000s when it was actually pretty solid. It hasn't been that site for a long time and all these other brands they accumulated they used to actually be run by passionate gamers who just wanted to talk about the shit they liked that ship sailed comic book resources CBR which is a massive clickbait form used to actually have a thriving comic book community. That's gone the forums gone and now it's just clickbait just tons and tons of clickbait. I swear to God like those Valnet sites they crank out like holy shit like a thousand articles a day. I'm not even kidding.

14:48I have no idea it's crazy while we recognize challenges the media industry is facing as a whole it's difficult to understand how laying off valuable employees better positions us to meet those challenges you've already been replaced and you told them to replace you last year. Why is it so hard to understand you told them to replace you last year when you said after more layoffs unionized IGN workers are done picking up the slack no more no less. At that point in time that was a starting gun for management to find a replacement for you. Because you can't let the tail wag the dog that's the deal right if you're a business owner you don't let the tail wag the dog. And if you threaten your company which you're basically doing you're basically saying we're not going to work for you we're not going to give you 100% we're not going to give you up you know 120% for sure. You've told them okay you're going to be difficult and they showed you the door.

15:52It's not hard to understand why why do journals and activist types that work in the video game industry working comic books working animation. Why do they think that the businesses that they work in the industries they work in operate any differently than any other business sector it's all the same. It's all the same yes you get to make fun stuff okay cool get talk about fun stuff okay cool you still work at the video game news factory at the end of the day. Right that that's your job you you still work at a factory you work at a content farm. You're still making product for your bosses to sell you know it's made differently it's marketed differently but like all these people really do think that they're above it all they really do and look I've done a lot of things and people are like how the hell did you do that I'm like well one I'm a workaholic why I start working as like 14.

16:52Like seriously they hired me at like 14 they thought I was over because I looked older I had like a full beard at 12 but like yeah absolutely hire me they hire me young and I've been working since I was 14 and I've usually most of my life I've had probably two jobs at once at least much to the dismay of my wife but I've always worked like a day job and then I have like a weekend thing or a side hustle and I've been that way as long as I can. Remember like because I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop people are like why are you so negative I'm like. It's because I'm old and I've seen a lot of shit and I know how this stuff works and you people who think you're going to retire from the video game news factory it's 60 years old with a watch you're fucking delusional that was never going to happen it's not going to happen in comics it's not going to happen in the animation. The only way that's going to happen is if you do something for yourself right you work for these companies this is it man this is the deal they pay you for your time until they don't need you anymore.

17:55And they make those decisions based on business and they look at their employees and they look at them. You know if they're against. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason with SUVs made to move with your rhythm. The versatile equinox tackles your entire day. The space is traversed fits your crew and your whole weekend and tracks bring style with value you can count on all infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right cord. Let's do the heartbeat. Adventure awaits in a new Chevy right now get $500 bonus cash on select Chevy tracks models plus get 2.9% financing on all 2026 tracks models together. Let's drive your Southern California Chevy dealers bonus cash is available on 2026 Chevy tracks LT enacted terms only 2.9% AP offer 36 months monthly payment is $2904 for every 1000 new finance example down payment 11% must finance with GM financial some customers may not qualify not available police and some of their offers take to retail delivery by 93026.

19:03If you they're going to be difficult and they're going to harm the business they will they will find a way to get rid of you. If you threaten your employer in any way I guarantee you there's a conversation being held with HR with management or something within a 48 to 72 hour period where they're already planning to get rid of you. I've seen people not get fired right away who've maybe blown up during a meeting or something like that and it's like yes guys and assholes got to go. It might have taken them 6 months to get rid of him because they had to do it the right way but you were basically fired yourself. Okay. Let's pull like I'm sorry this is last year this is after they laid a bunch of people off last year this week the IGN creators guild resolved that until February 13th workers will do their jobs no more no less. It's a time honored union tactic one that has produced results in other sectors fast forward a few months later.

20:08Oh my God guys a bunch of us got laid off and we didn't see it coming. Are you that fucking stupid please tell me you're not that fucking stupid seriously where are the fucking adults because this is of course this was going to happen. You push there of course this was going to happen you push their hand. I mean seriously. Anyway speaking of aftermath IGN creators guild leadership says the union were not told about the way I said bands. Of course not. They're not going to tell you you to the to management or now the enemy. You have made an enemy of management so they're not going to tell you shit they're not going to work with you. You basically held your breath until you turn blue and now your surprise are getting rid of you they're going to. Before it's all said and done if that is how the union negotiates with upper management whatever they're going to fire every single unionized employee one way or the other.

21:10If that company. I can almost guarantee it this is why I always tell people like hey pick your battles right like I'm not anti union and I've said this multiple times with these unions are completely unrealistic. They really do think they're in the cat bird seat like that guy I remember a couple of years ago and they had the strike at the docs. And they had that dude that thug from the union who's like we're going to squeeze him and we're going to show him who's boss and I'm like yeah that's you know physical goods or whatever. But I'm like as soon as they find a robot to replace you because you threaten them they're going to do it. Right I mean all you're doing is hastening the adoption of AI tools all you're doing is hastening outsourcing because you're paying in the ass. Now I'm not saying put up with being treated like shit that's not what I'm saying at all but you're a video game journalist right you're not out there digging ditches. It exactly you know I'm saying like you're not going down to the video game news minds every day and if you have undue stress from people online chances are very good itself inflicted high elissa itself inflicted drama.

22:20Stay the fuck off social media that's all you got to do. I mean this is not hard there's no rocket science. We don't understand we don't get it. It took the creators guild most of the day just to find out who exactly was laid off both inside and outside the union. At the time of publishing the estimate for union employees with another pending a decision in November that worker status is pending because union says the employee was given an ultimatum to either move to L.A. Despite owning a home and having kids in school in their homes that you're be laid off. Yeah they're doing that to get rid of people. They're basically like oh it's like the impossible task it's like oh no you can't move to Saskatchewan. Oh that's a real bummer I guess we're just going to have to replace you here's a severance package get the fuck out that's like look this is where it's at right now you guys basically. From my vantage point as a business owner and a former managing editor you chose violence you threatened them I fire people because I'm like I just know they're going to be difficult I fire people even if they didn't necessarily do anything.

23:33I've gotten rid of them because I'm like the first chance I got because I'm like I know this person is going to be a pain in my ass and is going to make my job harder so they got to go. You do what you got to do guys but there it is I think we're going to see the massive contraction again of the video game industry the journalism side of it. I mean we're in the middle of a video game crash right now did you really how many people did you think these companies we're going to keep on to cover the burning video game industry when you have people like us. You can roast our marshmallows on the flames serious you know one of us equals like I'm not trying to be a dick but like one youtuber and I'm tied me in particular I'm talking like get some like asmengold like asmengolds. Bigger than all of IGN as one guy is house. Where's far as I can tell same shirt every day like seriously doesn't have a wardrobe budget right.

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25:37Lotta for Keenan. That's me. Hey you're a yeah. Buying a car online on auto trader. Really but unlike other sites you can start online test drive with a local dealer then finish online or at the dealership. Really? Wait are you? Yep it's Keenan. Able to finish in person without starting the process over. Really? Your info stays with you every step of the way. Cool enjoy. It's Keenan Thompson. Buy your car online on auto trader. Really?