John Katsin
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crouton-salad.bsky.social
John Katsin
@crouton-salad.bsky.social
950 followers 290 following 41 posts
Video editor at IGN. I cut everything it's nerdy sun shines upon and some things it doesn't - especially trailers, promos and sizzle reels.

johnhenryhopkins.com

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crouton-salad.bsky.social
There is no cake
ignunion.bsky.social IGN Union @ignunion.bsky.social · Aug 4
Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:
Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public. The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events. Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts. At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical. This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech. While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.
August 4, 2025 at 9:35 PM
crouton-salad.bsky.social
Taking care of your staff should be an easy choice. You can even do acquisitions at the same time. Just take care of your staff too - the people generating the value. This shouldn't be hard to do or understand.
zdcreatorsguild.bsky.social Ziff Davis Creators Guild @zdcreatorsguild.bsky.social · Jul 30
Today, the multibillion-dollar Ziff Davis is slashing its staff of 23 valuable ZDCG colleagues — just weeks after it finalized even more corporate acquisitions and boasted about profitability being "up." Ziff Davis is putting its spending spree ahead of its own workers. 👇
August 1, 2025 at 1:40 AM
crouton-salad.bsky.social
Another events season in the games industry means I get to cut lots of sizzle reels, hype bumps & promos. Here's the latest:

@ign.com
#ignlive
June 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by John Katsin
ignunion.bsky.social
It’s been-

One week since we asked IGN Entertainment to recognize our friends on the product, engineering, and Humble Bundle teams as part of the IGN Creators Guild.

The sooner that happens, the sooner we can start working with management to build towards a stronger future for us all!
Recognize IGN Creators Guild (2.0) Now!
May 29, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by John Katsin
ignunion.bsky.social
Our little union is getting a bit bigger!

Today, we proposed the addition of our product, engineering, and Humble Bundle folks into our unit.

Join us in welcoming our peers and asking IGN Entertainment Inc. management to voluntarily recognize their addition into our union!
Our NEW mission statement (we're growing). The image also features the IGNCG logo with rainbow coloration on dark blue textured background. Logo created by Julia Rago. The IGNCG Mission statement exceeds the character limit of bsky's alt text. The first several paragraphs read: “IGN has a lot going on” might be the understatement of the century. At any given time, there are countless irons in countless fires as our teams continue to deliver multi-award winning original coverage of games, film and television, technology and more in both written and video spaces. This fact, as well as the awards, the prestige, and the hundreds of millions of monthly visitors, none of it exists without IGN’s incomparable staff. Together, we have navigated a pandemic, multiple entertainment strikes, massive live events seasons, surprising trailer leaks, and whatever other curveballs the multiple industries that we cover have thrown at us. Through it all we have delivered best-in-class articles, videos, guides, live-events, and more, banding together to ensure IGN remains a top player across industries. Now the IGN creative teams are banding together once more, this time to form the IGN Creators Guild. We are unionizing with the News Guild alongside our colleagues at the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, as well as other leaders in the online media space like the L.A. Times, The New Yorker, Vice, and Time. Of our many goals, we first and foremost want to see IGN grow and thrive as digital media continues to become more and more tumultuous. We have been an institution for over 25 years, and the creators of IGN want to see it continue for 25 more and beyond. But to do so, we need support. We need fair and competitive pay for all, including those who are asked to live and work in some of the most expensive cities in the United States; affordable health insurance; and better diversity, equity, and inclusion across the board. We need protection against layoffs amid a hectic media landscape, guarantees of reasonable compensation when those layoffs cannot be avoided, as well as protections against generative AI and similar technologies.
May 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM