IGN gets a new home under new owners Ziff Davis

IGN and its network of video game and entertainment news websites is moving from owners News Corp. to Ziff Davis — a publishing company that got out of the game business in 2009 — the companies announced today.

Ziff Davis, which itself was sold to J2 Global back in November, reportedly purchased IGN for less than $100 million, said Bloomberg. Both parties did not disclose the official amount of the transaction, but we should know more after J2 Global’s Q3 2013 earnings report. News Corp. bought IGN for $650 million back in 2005 — making it yet another property the company unloaded for far less than the original price (the other being Myspace).

IGN runs IGN.com, Gamespy, 1UP.com, and sports/male-focused news site AskMen — all of which were formerly a part of News Corps. interactive division. The IGN sites will add to Ziff Davis’ portfolio of websites that include PC Mag, Geek, AppScout, and others. [Disclosure: VentureBeat competes with PC Mag, and GamesBeat competes with IGN, GameSpy, and 1UP.com.]

“Ziff Davis shares similar roots with IGN, evolving from a traditional print business into a successful digital business,” said Peer Schneider, the publisher and EVP of Content at IGN, said in a statement to VentureBeat. “As the games media space continues to evolve, and audiences continue to seek new ways to consume content, we’re excited to be working with a partner focused on delivering strong editorial content across all platforms.”