IGN facts for kids
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| Type of business | Subsidiary |
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Type of site
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Entertainment |
| Available in | English, Arabic, French, German, Hungarian, Serbian, Swedish, Hebrew, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Greek, Romanian, Korean, Croatian, Turkish, Czech, Portuguese, Japanese, Hindi |
| Founded | September 29, 1996 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, |
| Founder(s) | Jonathan Simpson-Bint |
| Key people |
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| Industry | Video game and media journalism |
| Employees | 250 |
| Parent |
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| IPv6 support | No |
| Registration |
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| Current status | Active |
IGN is a popular American website that focuses on video games and other entertainment. It's run by IGN Entertainment Inc., which is part of a bigger company called Ziff Davis. IGN's main office is in San Francisco, California. The website was started by Chris Anderson and first launched on September 29, 1996. IGN shares articles about games, films, anime, television, comics, technology, and more. You can find IGN content on many platforms, including mobile phones, game consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, PC, and streaming services like YouTube and Twitch.
IGN used to own and operate several other websites for gamers and entertainment fans, such as Rotten Tomatoes and AskMen. In February 2013, IGN was sold to the publishing company Ziff Davis.
Contents
The Story of IGN
IGN started in September 1996 as the Imagine Games Network. It began as five separate websites, including N64.com and PSXPower. Later, in 1998, all these individual sites came together under the IGN brand with a new main homepage. This homepage showed content from over 30 different channels.
In February 1999, PC Magazine named IGN one of the top 100 websites. The company that owned IGN became a separate business called Snowball.com. Snowball.com went public in 2000, meaning its shares could be bought and sold by the public. However, during a time when many internet companies struggled, Snowball.com sold off most of its other businesses. IGN kept growing its audience and started a special subscription service called IGN Insider (later IGN Prime). Because of its success, the company changed its name to IGN Entertainment in May 2002.
By June 2005, IGN had 24 million unique visitors each month. In September 2005, a large media company called News Corporation bought IGN for $650 million. IGN celebrated its 10th birthday on January 12, 2008. The company moved its headquarters to San Francisco in March 2010.
IGN Joins Ziff Davis
In 2011, IGN Entertainment bought a competing company called UGO Entertainment. News Corp. then planned to make IGN Entertainment its own public company.
However, on February 4, 2013, News Corp. announced that it had sold IGN Entertainment to Ziff Davis. Ziff Davis had recently bought another company called J2 Global. After this sale, IGN announced that it would be letting go of some staff and closing down other websites like GameSpy and 1UP.com. This was done to focus more on its main brands, IGN and AskMen.
Other Websites and Companies IGN Has Owned
Over the years, IGN has owned or acquired many other websites and businesses. For example, it bought Vault Network in 1999, which was about role-playing video games. In 2004, IGN started GameStats, a website that collected game review scores from many places. It also acquired TeamXbox and VE3D, which focused on Xbox and PC games.
In 2005, IGN Entertainment joined with GameSpy Industries. This brought the game download site FilePlanet into the IGN group. IGN also bought the online magazine AskMen in 2005. In 2004, IGN acquired Rotten Tomatoes, a website that collects movie reviews, but later sold it in 2010. In October 2017, Humble Bundle, a company known for selling game bundles, was acquired by IGN.
More recently, in May 2024, IGN Entertainment acquired Gamer Network. This deal included popular gaming websites like Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and VG247.
How IGN Scores Games
IGN reviews video games and gives them a score. This score helps people decide if a game is worth playing.
Different Scoring Methods
- Original Scale: At first, IGN staff would write a review and give a game a score between 0.1 and 10.0. This score was based on things like how the game looked (graphics), how it sounded, how fun it was to play (gameplay), and if it would keep you interested for a long time. The overall score was not just an average of these parts but an independent decision.
- 20-Point Scale: On August 3, 2010, IGN changed its scoring. Instead of using tiny steps like 0.1, they started using steps of 0.5. So, a game might get a 7.5 or an 8.0, but not an 8.1. The highest score was still 10.0. This change only affected new reviews, not old ones.
- 100-Point Scale: On September 13, 2012, IGN changed its review system again. They decided to use a 100-point scale, meaning a score of 8.5 would become 85. However, after some discussion, they decided to keep the decimal point in scores, so it was more like 8.5 out of 10, but still thinking of it as a 100-point scale.
- Re-review Policy: In early 2014, IGN started a new rule. If a game received big updates after it first came out, IGN could re-review it and give it a new, possibly better, score. Examples include League of Legends and Minecraft.
- 10-Point Scale: In January 2020, IGN went back to a simpler 1 to 10 scoring scale. They found it was easier to use and understand than the more detailed 100-point scale.
IGN's 'Best of' Awards
IGN holds an event called 'Best of' at the end of each year. This event celebrates the best games, films, TV shows, and comics from that year. IGN staff choose the winners for each award. Readers can also vote online for their favorites, which are called the 'People's Choice' awards.
Other Content Sections
IGN has had many different sections over the years to cover various interests:
- Video Game FAQs: In 2002, IGN launched a special site for user-submitted guides and tips for video games.
- GameStats: Launched in 2004, this site aimed to give a fair rating for games by averaging scores from many different game review sites.
- Direct2Drive.com: Also launched in 2004, this site sold digital versions of PC and Mac video games, as well as anime and comics.
- Comics Site: In 2005, IGN started a section just for comics, including popular titles from Marvel and DC, as well as manga.
- Television Site: In 2006, IGN launched a TV section. It features interviews with TV stars, TV schedules, and news.
- Anime Site: In 2007, IGN launched an anime section with features, trailers, and reviews. This channel was later changed when IGN redesigned its site.
- Podcasts: IGN also creates many different podcasts. These include shows focused on specific game consoles like "Podcast Beyond" for PlayStation and "Podcast Unlocked" for Xbox. "Game Scoop!" is another popular podcast where editors talk about video game news.
IGN Around the World
IGN has many different versions of its website in various countries and languages. As of 2021, there are 28 editions in 25 languages. The versions for the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are run by Ziff Davis. Other versions are run by local companies that have a special agreement with IGN.
When you visit IGN.com, the website often automatically sends you to the version for your country. This is done using technology that figures out where you are based on your internet address. Each country's IGN site usually has a small flag next to the IGN logo. You can still choose to visit the original American website if you want.
- In 2006, IGN opened its first offices in the UK and Australia. These sites shared information with the American site but also added content written by local editors.
- On May 16, 2012, IGN Middle East was launched for gamers in the Middle East and North Africa. It offers content in both English and Arabic.
- In September 2012, the Italian version of IGN started.
- On October 9, 2012, IGN Spain was launched.
- In December 2013, IGN India was launched. It focuses on gaming news and events in India, along with comics, movies, and technology.
- In April 2016, IGN Japan was launched. This was important because Japan is a huge video game market, and IGN Japan helps share Japanese gaming news with the rest of the world.
- In September 2020, IGN China was launched.
IGN Convention
IGN Convention (also called IGN Con) is a fun event that celebrates video games, movies, comics, and pop culture. These conventions are held in different cities in the Middle East.
At IGN Convention, you can often find:
- Famous guests, sometimes from movies or games.
- Video game tournaments where people compete.
- Table top games and card games to play.
- Previews of upcoming movies.
- Stalls selling comic books.
- A cosplay competition where people dress up as their favorite characters.
- Local artists and game developers showing off their work.
IGN Convention is run by IGN Middle East. It's like a bigger version of an older gaming event called GameFest. The logo for IGN Convention was designed by a well-known artist named Ashraf Ghori.
Some past IGN Conventions have included:
- Dubai 2013: Guests included Kevin Nash and Naomi Kyle. There was a cosplay competition and a chance to see The Last of Us on a huge screen.
- Bahrain 2013: Guests like Troy Baker and Keiji Inafune attended. Visitors could preview the PlayStation 4 and try out the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
- Dubai 2014: This event featured Troy Baker and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. It had a cosplay contest, a concert by Troy Baker, and workshops about film and gaming.
- Qatar 2015: Guests included Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson and voice actors Adam Harrington and Dave Fennoy. There was a video game showcase and a retro gaming museum.
- Abu Dhabi 2015: Guests like Jack Gleeson and Naomi Kyle were there. The cosplay competition offered a big prize, and attendees could try PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.
- Oman 2016: Guests included Kristian Nairn and voice actors Dave Fennoy and Adam Harrington. The event had a cosplay competition, celebrity Q&A, and gaming zones.
IGN Pro League
In 2011, IGN started something called the IGN Pro League (IPL). This was a professional esports league that held tournaments for popular video games like StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and League of Legends.
However, on March 6, 2013, IGN suddenly canceled the finals of IPL 6, which were supposed to happen in Las Vegas. They also stopped the league completely. IGN explained that it was becoming too difficult to compete with the growing number of other esports events. A few weeks later, Blizzard Entertainment, the company that makes StarCraft II, announced that it had hired the staff and taken over the assets of the IPL from IGN. The former IPL staff then started working on Blizzard's own esports productions.
IGN on TV and Film
IGN has also produced many different shows and videos for television and online streaming. Some of these include:
- Gamer Nation (2003)
- Game Scoop! (2006–)
- IGN Originals (2008–)
- IGN Daily Fix (2009–)
- Up at Noon (2012–2021)
- Cheap Cool Crazy (2012–2013)
- IGN Presents (2012–)
- Project: SERA (2013–)
- Not Another Zombie Apocalypse (2013)
- IGN Now (2019–)
- Devs React to Speedruns (2019–)
See also
In Spanish: IGN (sitio web) para niños
