Digital Foundry, the Most Trusted Name in Game Console Analysis, is Going Independent

Digital Foundry, the gaming hardware analysis publication known for its technical console breakdowns, has separated from IGN ownership as of today, with founder Richard Leadbetter purchasing the outlet and its complete archives. Leadbetter, who retained 50% ownership since selling half to Eurogamer in 2015, acquired an additional 25 percent from IGN while investor Rupert Loman, Eurogamer's original co-founder, purchased the remaining quarter.

The five-person team will operate independently, maintaining its YouTube channel with 1.5 million subscribers and Patreon support generating approximately $200,000 annually. The publication plans to develop a full website for its written content and expand coverage while keeping most content free.

How much analysis

[ZERO1ZERO]

How much analysis Do games consoles need that they have a 5 person team generating $200k annually? Dont they only come out every few years.

Re:How much analysis

[TwistedGreen]

If you look at their YouTube channel, lots: https://www.youtube.com/@Digit... [youtube.com]

They mostly do game reviews and industry news in addition to reviewing individual consoles. Also, given that modern consoles are constantly being updated, it's a rich source of content.

Nice to see an independent voice re-emerge. I bet the value of IGN has dropped quite a bit now that most views are driven primarily by the algorithm.

Re: How much analysis

[ThurstonMoore]

They do a lot of computer stuff too.

Re:How much analysis

[tlhIngan]

How much analysis Do games consoles need that they have a 5 person team generating $200k annually? Dont they only come out every few years.

it's not just game consoles, it's games. They are the ones doing technical analysis of games - are they doing dynamic resolution and what the framerate of the game is in various scenarios. They also analyze (with modded consoles) if there are hardware issues or optimization issues.

Like how the original Nintendo Switch performance is hampered by the limited memory bandwidth - game performance often dips below 30fps on the Switch and it's due to the lack of memory bandwidth, because a modded Switch allowing one to adjust memory speeds can see improved performance.

The good thing though is they only make $200K a year. It's important because a lot of larger YouTube channels (think Theorists, MenTour, Veritassium, MrBeast, LTT and the like. IGN probably too.) have been infiltrated by private equity - too much money and not enough ways to make more money so maybe capitalizing on the popular YouTube channels is another way to make more money more faster. Yes, this also means many of the channels patreons, paid subscribers, memberships, etc., aren't to pay the content makers, but just line the pockets of their investors.

It's important if you decide to block sponsorships and stuff to know which ones actually benefit the channel, and which are just profit making opportunities for some rich billionaire.

Re:

[alvian]

They make $200k from their Patreon supporters only. There's no way they can have 5 full time employees just on $200k. Other revenues are from Youtube and various sponsorship content they produce.

good news for the team

[williamyf]

Keep up the good work

Will they survive the AI slop tsunami?

[ffkom]

Digital Foundry certainly has a substantial fan base who value their manual work, their new independence certainly strengthens their credibility, and it seems like they have a chance to at least have some fun at work, not being treated like expendable cost factors, as they would be in every larger corporation. But there are challenges ahead of them: Their viewer base is aging, and their content will have a hard time getting noticed by the generation growing up with AI slop from childhood. Revenue of the ga

Re:

[alvian]

Todd Howard has mentioned in an interview that basically everyone who's on the technical side of game development watches DF videos. They'll spotlight games that are doing wonderful things on the technical side that might not have been heralded in the past since those excellent technical efforts could have been wasted on mediocre and low selling games.