Gaming and entertainment publisher IGN has become the latest media company to cut jobs, with the union representing its employees saying the layoffs affected multiple departments.
The IGN Creators Guild criticized the Ziff Davis-owned outlet after the cuts, which reportedly affected hosts, producers, editors and other key employees at the San Francisco-based company.
In a statement, the union said it was “devastated, angry, and heartbroken for our colleagues.”
“Today was an awful day at IGN. We were blindsided by the layoff of four union members and many more people across the organization who contributed years of their careers to making IGN an unparalleled voice in games and entertainment,” the statement read.
“With each successive layoff, core parts of IGN’s operation continue to be stripped away…How many layoffs will occur before we no longer recognize the company we work for and the content that we make?
“While we recognize the challenges the media industry is facing as a whole, it is difficult to understand how laying off valuable employees better positions us to meet those challenges.”
Longtime IGN hosts Seth Macy and Brian Altano each confirmed that they were among those affected by the latest round of job cuts.
Macy, who worked as a senior social commerce producer and video host at IGN Entertainment, had been with the company for more than eight years.
“If you haven’t already heard, I was let go by IGN Entertainment yesterday,” Macy wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
Altano joined IGN Entertainment in 2009 and worked as a video host, producer and podcaster. He was widely known for hosting Beyond, the PlayStation-focused podcast.
In an Instagram post confirming his departure, Altano said his final day with the company would be October 2.
Bo Moore, IGN’s senior manager of tech coverage, was also laid off, according to Shanethegamer.com.
The total number of employees affected by the latest layoffs remains unclear. The company also made cuts earlier this year that affected a small number of employees, according to Kotaku. The California Post contacted IGN for comment.
The layoffs at IGN come as several California newsrooms faced a severe round of job cuts at McClatchy last week, with some outlets losing as much as 40% of their staff.
More than 90 journalists nationwide were affected, based on estimates from unions representing employees at several McClatchy newspapers, Poynter reported.
The cuts were felt at more than a dozen papers across the country, including Northern California’s Modesto Bee and The Fresno Bee. It hit not only reporters, but videographers and photographers.
