IGN Lays Off Staff Across Multiple Departments, Including Hosts Brian Altano and Seth Macy

IGN, owned by Ziff Davis, laid off staff across several departments on Monday, September 14, including longtime hosts Brian Altano and Seth Macy, right after one of the outlet's busiest stretches of events coverage in years.

IGN went through another round of layoffs this Monday, September 14, hitting multiple departments at one of the world's largest gaming outlets, according to reporting from Kotaku citing internal sources. Parent company Ziff Davis has not publicly confirmed the total number of people affected.

Among those let go are well-known on-screen personalities: Brian Altano, who joined the site in 2009 and became one of the faces most associated with its PlayStation podcast "Beyond," and Seth Macy, a senior commerce editor who also hosted the outlet's Nintendo-focused video show. Both had built long careers there and were seen as central to the site's video identity.

A technology writer on staff was also reportedly cut just hours after his coverage of Valve's new handheld device launch was featured on the homepage — a detail that added, among staffers, to the sense that the cuts caught the newsroom off guard.

The timing drew particular attention because it comes right after a stretch of major events the team had covered, including Summer Game Fest, the outlet's own IGN Live gathering, and San Diego Comic-Con — historically a high-traffic period for the site, which made the layoffs feel especially jarring to staff and readers alike.

This isn't the first time Ziff Davis has trimmed headcount across its gaming and entertainment brands; the company has carried out similar reductions in previous rounds, citing cost discipline even during stretches of positive financial results, according to accounts from employees in past cuts.

As of this writing, IGN had not officially addressed the full scope of the layoffs or the future of productions like "Beyond" and its Nintendo-focused show, both of which relied directly on the staffers who were let go.

The episode reignites a broader conversation about instability in games journalism, an industry that has weathered repeated waves of layoffs in recent years even at outlets with substantial traffic and editorial influence.