IGN lays off editorial staff

IGN Entertainment’s US-based editorial team has been downsized, with at least four members laid off.

The site’s ‘expanded audience’ editor-in-chief Dana Jongewaard confirmed on Facebook that she has left the firm, while writer Nicole Tanner posted on Twitter that she has been laid off today.

Gamasutra reports that GameSpy’s editor-in-chief Will Tuttle and his colleague Scott Bromley have also been dismissed. The layoffs are said to have spread to UGO, which IGN purchased last month.

Despite the layoffs, IGN Entertainment is currently recruiting for a number of editorial positions, including editor-in-chief and associate editor for UGO’s 1UP.com.

Reports suggest that IGN owner News Corporation is building up its video game news and entertainment unit in order to establish it as a separate business – with possible plans to sell the unit off.