November 12, 2012 by

Another set of questions! There were so many (and I'm such a wordy bastard), I'm breaking this Q&A in two.


harshgupta: "Tell us about how IGN came into existence and who were its founding fathers."

Peer: IGN actually started as part of a print publishing business, called Imagine Media -- which was the US division of UK-based Future Publishing. You may remember them from such magazines as Next Generation, Ultra Game Players or PC Gamer. The first letter in "IGN" stems from our former parent company's first initial: Imagine Games Network. Few today know that the man behind TED, Chris Anderson, as well as Imagine's former publisher, Jonathan Simpson-Bint (now at TwitchTV), laid the foundation for what IGN would eventually become. Imagine tested the waters with a few console-specific gaming websites in 1997 and then hired full-time staff to run them -- including me.

At that time, websites were just a small portion of Imagine's business. We took the big step in 1999 when we spun IGN out of Imagine as a standalone internet-only business. I was one of the founding members of what would become the standalone IGN Entertainment (then named

If you want to know more, there's a nice article by Ryan Geddes that tells of the early days here:


treboR_52014: "Hey Peer. I've been an IGN fan for years now. Even as a gaming journalist that goes all over the internet to find gaming news now (and credits IGN whenever I find news from you guys of course, haha), I still come to IGN for a lot of my news about all things geek related. Basically, my dream is to one day work for IGN because I think it's such a fantastic site. I've talked to Craig Harris and Adam Sessler in person before, asking what advice they would offer to someone who wants to make it as a gaming journalist. Now I want to ask you, Peer Schneider, an original IGN member and co-founder: As someone who dreams to work for IGN one day as an editor, what advice would you offer me to reach that level?

I guess another question I have, if you can answer of course, is if there will be a First Friday's in January? I would love to make a trip there if there is one during that month since I'll be off from college."


Peer: First of all, yes, there will be a First Friday in January. But it'll technically be on the second Friday of the month due to the holiday break and CES. That's January 11, 2013. Would be awesome to meet you in person.

There are lots of paths to becoming an editor at a gaming publication. I went to Berkeley's Grad School of Journalism and learned a ton during those two years. I was able to hit the ground running because I was taught how to write focused news pieces, use QuarkXPress (now ancient), shoot BetaCams (now ancient), how to read the news on camera, edit video (on now ancient linear machines), and more. They really put us through the ringer, with tough deadlines and lots of after-hours and weekend work. So taking some classes in creative writing, journalism, communications, and English, or developing foreign language skills definitely helps.

But in the end, an educational background is less important than being able to show off great articles with unique angles, a passion not just for games but for the creation of content around games, and an interesting voice. I think the best advice I can give you is to apply yourself -- participate in a college paper, start a wiki and/or contribute to existing ones, write a blog on IGN (and follow some folks and get people to read and give feedback on your content),  start a YouTube channel. Basically, get your voice out there and gather feedback.  Beyond that, another good step towards a job at a games media company would be to seek out internships at publications (even non-gaming ones) or with game publishers (as part of their community outreach teams, for example).

Most importantly, though, don't sit back and expect to be discovered. Reach out, again and again. Greg Miller applied multiple times before he landed his gig at IGN. He knew what he wanted to do and he didn't take "no" for an answer.


Jamiemad66: "How often does IGN look for new freelancers? Or do you guys stick to a certain group? Just wondering about the whole process. These Q&A blogs are a great insight by the way, thank you."

Peer: Once we train a contributor on our CMS and style guide, it's of course easier to utilize that same writer again rather than spending time to train new ones. So yeah, there's definitely a group of freelancers IGN (and many other publications) uses -- but that's not to say that new names don't ever break through. That usually happens when there's a gap in our coverage or topic that our current network of writers isn't equipped to handle. That's why I usually advise people looking for freelance gigs to find a beat.

I think there are lots of opportunities for genre or game specialists in the next few years, for example. Editors at sites like IGN usually focus on a broad lineup of games. But let's not forget that some of the most-played games on PCs and consoles aren't titles that just released -- they're games like League of Legends or Minecraft, that have been out for months or years. And these games need continued coverage if we want to service their audiences. Many publications also have need for experts on Japan (and people who can quickly translate Japanese gaming news) or those that can write detailed franchise history pieces or company profiles.


fliadaloisio: "What was the 'main goal' that you people wanted to achieve when you started making IGN? Is this where you "supposed" to be in this present or it changed drastically and become something else entirely?

Peer: Things constantly changed. When we first kicked off IGN, the idea was to create companion sites to print magazines -- basically, "fan sites" around single gaming platforms. They looked different, had different voices, and didn't really cross-link. We even ran a separate movies/TV/comics site called The Den. But things changed. Google happened. Single-platform gamers are now in the minority and many games are released on multiple platforms anyway, so now there is just one IGN site. We also didn't launch our websites with community tools. The primary focus was to deliver the gaming news faster than the mags could. We then quickly realized how important the gamer's voice was in all of this. Our reader mail sections got more and more popular to the point where I spent a good chunk of the day reading through emails to pick and answer questions in our daily N-Query mailbag, for example. Then, when we added message boards, things quickly shifted again. We're now at a time where 30% of IGN's traffic is generated by content we create either in collaboration with the community or that is created single-handedly by the community itself. Those are just some examples, but I'd say the focus has shifted from being a 100%-editorially driven website to being a community platform and content production house that makes and curates content and pushes it to where gamers are -- whether that's on the web, mobile devices, YouTube, or even Xbox Live.


Madra2: "Where the hell is the next Scarface the world is yours. Or even a hidef redux for new consoles. If its not being made, I want to buy the franchise rights and make it myself."

Peer: Do it! I'd play it. The Scarface game was actually one of those rare movie-based games that wasn't just competently made but also sold pretty well: over a million units. The developer, Radical, doesn't exist anymore -- and Vivendi/Activision doesn't seem too hot on trying to revive older movie franchises as games nowadays. Sure, there was Bond recently, but it was still released alongside a new movie opening.

I think having game "reboots" of classic movies would be amazing. But the challenge is that most publishers now want to own their big brands. Most would side with creating something original or doing a spin-off of their already-owned franchises over dipping into the movie well.


PKMN_Trainer_Brown: Your favorite indie games?

Peer: The new Hotline Miami is pretty cool, and I really enjoyed games like Braid, Fez, Super Meat Boy, NightSky, Limbo, Torchlight. But I will always have a soft spot for the one game that showed us that indie games can truly make it big: World of Goo. I still can't fathom how much work went into this game. Oh, and it's easy to forget that Minecraft came from humble beginnings. I still absolutely adore that game and can get totally lost in it for hours.


Dekatron5791: Do you consider the Wii U a next gen console or not?

Peer: Depends on the definition of next-gen. If it's purely about next-generation technology, then no. Wii U is an extension of the current crop of machines; graphically, processing-wise, display-wise, and even input-wise. More than anything, it's a melding of handheld and console gaming. But that's not to say that that isn't "next generation gaming." It's very possible that the combination of touch screens and TV displays will usher in what gaming will look like for years to come. Personally, I think it's a the first machine in the next generation of consoles. It starts a new console cycle, rather than capping the last one. Technology-wise, it's a current-gen machine that may just push some next-generation gameplay concepts.


CazFeraligatr: "What is your personal favourite genre in gaming?"

Peer: I love cinematic action adventures and action-based RPGs that have a guiding story, but have some semblance of choice. Games like Zelda, Mass Effect, Metroid, Borderlands, Fallout, Skyrim... I also never turn down a great racing game. And to be honest, I usually also play all the big shooters -- but mostly for their single-player or co-op campaigns.

I spent way too much time in this game...

I spent way too much time in this game...

I'll have more of your questions tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Submit Blog
blog comments powered by Disqus