Is This the End for EGM?

Joystiq reports that UGO Entertainment may be interested in buying the 1UP Network, consisting of GameVideos, MyCheats and the flagship website, but only if iconic gaming mag Electronic Gaming Monthly gets left behind.

The December cover of Electronic Gaming Monthly seemed bizarre at the time, considering the dire straits facing print media, its brazen headline reading, “The End is Nigh.” Now, it just looks cute and prophetic as Joystiq’s Kyle Orland reports that the Hearst Corporation owned UGO Entertainment is currently in “very advanced” talks to buy the 1UP Network from Ziff Davis Media. The sale would include the websites 1up.com, GameVideos.com and MyCheats.com. What’s missing from the deal, however, is the 19-year-old icon, Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Ziff Davis Media, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2008, has been trying to offload its assets, more specifically the Game Group, since as far back as January 2007. While there have been offers made behind closed doors, the most common cause of fallout has been the complete lack of interest from potential investors in Electronic Gaming Monthly. Orland’s sources report that Ziff has run into problems selling ad space for upcoming issues of EGM, with the February issue of the long-running magazine being its last.

None of this should be particularly shocking to anyone as the EGM doors have become a revolving door for veteran writers looking to bail out of the company any way they can for the past two years. While the death of the magazine would mean the end of EGM, the writers and content would most likely move over to the website, 1up.com, much the same way it did when Ziff Davis Media ceased production of Games for Windows Magazine earlier this year.