UGO boss tells his side of the story; world listens
It's like this: there are two sides to every story (even stories about things with more than two sides, apparently). Take last night's 1UP / UGO situation (UGO-gate? 1UP-ton?). On the surface, that certainly appeared to be a gruesome bloodletting, with the entirety of EGM's staff let go, the magazine shuttered, and much of 1UP's popular media production teams sent packing. That's certainly not good news for any of the affected, including Ziff's community.
But, inversely, it's no secret that EGM and other video game mags (not to mention the entire print journalism industry in general) aren't doing so well – one need only peruse themediaisdying for a moment to get the idea. From UGO's point of view, they weren't laying people off, but hiring 24 new employees and expanding the UGO workforce by 33%. Speaking with MTV Multiplayer, UGO chief J Moses says that "the simple reality is that we only wanted to buy 1UP and related sites" and that "closing EGM has absolutely nothing to do with UGO."
What about all those podcasts and video shows? 1UP's Sam Kennedy – who agrees that UGO is not the bad guy – tells MTV that "the Retronauts podcast will continue" and there are "some possibilities" regarding the future of the 1UP Yours podcast. As for the The 1UP Show video podcast? It's "more up in the air," according to MTV. So, dear readers (and angry 1UP / EGM fans), does this help you understand the situation? Empathize with UGO? Still gwumpy? Sound off in the comments.
