Oh boy. Looks like the sale of 1UP to Hearst hasn't gone as smoothly as you'd expect. Rather than simply move house, it seems most of the site's most experienced/popular writers have instead been let go.
Looks like when Ziff CEO said "Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team", he actually meant "we're taking the interns and tea lady and that's about it".
According to twitter posts, GAF posts and phonecalls to MTV, around 30 staffers were let go today, including Skip Pfister, Ryan O'Donnell, Philip Kollar, Jay Fresh, Cesar Quintero, Nick Suttner, Anthony Gallegos, Matt Chandronait, Shane Bettenhausen and former EIC James Mielke.
Also cut were most of the Gamevideos.com team, as well as production of the 1UP Show.
Leaving, what, Sam Kennedy and Garnett Lee? That's a day of long knives if ever we've seen one.
EGM Shuts Down, More Than 30 Ziff Davis Employees Laid Off [MTV]