IGN joins internet search firm Blinkx as one of the companies that News Corp is eyeing up, following Murdoch's declaration earlier this month that to bolster the company's presence on the net.
IGN owns branded websites that provide content and services to consumers, advertisers, and publishers and developers of videogames and other forms of digital entertainment. These include IGN.com, GameSpy, GameSpy Arena, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, 3D Gamers, Direct2Drive and GameStats.com. IGN also owns the film site Rotten Tomatoes.
In July, IGN revealed that it had registered for an initial public offering of its shares with a value of around $1bn. However, with News Corp now interested this may never come to fruition.
In June, IGN acquired , the internet male lifestyle website. The acquisition increased the total reach of IGN's audience by approximately 3m visitors. In March, IGN said it reached more than 24m users worldwide.
News Corp has already been on an internet acquisition spree this year, snapping up companies including Intermix Media, which owns Myspace.com, Realestate.com.au and the online sports company Scout Media. It is also in talks with San Francisco-based search company Blinkx.
Murdoch has said that News Corp is going to take its news sports and entertainment businesses and make money from them across the internet.
He said to investors: "Over the next several months expect additional announcements as we work to achieve our goal of building a distinctive interactive network, one that perhaps redefines what is meant by an internet portal."
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