Exciting News: Digital Foundry Is Now Fully Independent! (Patreon)

Hi everyone, Rich here with some pretty enormous, exciting news! We’ve just announced that Digital Foundry is now fully independent, having purchased IGN’s 50 percent stake in the company - a clean break and a huge opportunity. For us, this is one of the most important and exciting moments in the history of the channel. Going forward, it’s the team that fully defines the way forward - we’re free to grow, invest, work with the partners of our choosing and do much more. We finally feel we’re in the right place to finally realise our potential - and we’re inviting you to join us on this journey!

Of course, for some, it may not be immediately obvious that we have any real associations with IGN at all, so allow me to explain how we are where we are. Back in 2015, I pitched Gamer Network - then, pretty much the premiere independent games media company in the world - to bring Digital Foundry from the pages of Eurogamer to YouTube. A joint venture was born: I’d build the team and shape the content, while Gamer Network funded us and provided numerous background benefits. A few years later, Gamer Network was acquired by ReedPop - a division of Reed Exhibitions, a gigantic company more interested in GN’s events than its editorial. Last year, ReedPop sold Gamer Network’s digital properties to IGN. So, each time it was sold on, GN’s 50 percent stake in Digital Foundry changed hands - and there was little we could do about that. Tied to massive firms whose shareholding gave them influence over what we do, it’s not unfair to say that Gamer Network’s pioneering spirit was replaced with something quite different. Previous attempts to buy controlling shares in the business came to nothing - until now.

Fair play to IGN here, they offered to sell their stake in DF to me and the process was smooth overall. It’s not been a walk in the park though. IGN received fair market value for their shares, which means that for me - as an individual - the stakes are very high. I’ve spent more on buying back Digital Foundry shares than I have on my own house, so there is some degree of both excitement and anxiety in making this announcement. But the deal is for an amount considerably even higher than that, so I’m delighted to share that Gamer Network founder and OG DF investor Rupert Loman has stepped in to make this deal possible - and our objectives are agreed and aligned.

From now on, all aspects of DF are decided upon by DF. We answer to nobody but you, the audience. We are fully independent, we’re proud of that and we think it’s the future of quality games media. In the new DF Direct Special, we talk about the role of independent media and the possibilities we are pursuing - but how far we push, how ambitious we want to be… well, the sky’s the limit, but support from our fantastic community backing an independent DF will make a world of difference. We’re committed to sharing this journey with all Supporters and we’re eager for your feedback - please let us know what you think in the invitingly open comments box below.