According to an announcement, Harris has acquired publishing rights and trademarks to EGM, with plans to restart the print publication in the second half of this year.

Harris calls the relaunch of Electronic Gaming Monthly a “welcome opportunity to continue delivering quality content to gaming enthusiasts,” saying the new EGM team has “exciting plans for the evolution of what will once again be a leading independent voice for the gaming community.”

The mag has the enthusiastic, but not necessarily financial backing of Ziff Davis.

“We are pleased that EGM is now in the hands of its original creator, Steve Harris, and wish him and the publication the best of success in the future,” says Ziff CEO Jason Young.

The press release states that we’ll hear more about the new EGM at next week’s E3 expo. For now, a placeholder site featuring the announcement, with links to the resuscitated mag’s Twitter and Facebook accounts resides at EGMnow.com.

“ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY” FOUNDER EXECUTES CONTRACT TO ACQUIRE PRINT AND ONLINE PUBLISHING RIGHTS TO EGM MAGAZINE [EGM]

OK, it’s been a bit longer than three days. But with Easter around the corner, it’s somewhat apt, because just as everyone was done saying goodybe to FileFront, it’s now back from the dead.

The popular PC file download service was closed late last month after its owners, Ziff Davis Media (who were trying to offload the site), failed to find a buyer. Yet no sooner did the site close than, with its value crashing through the floor, it seems somebody stepped in to save it. A message on FileFront’s website reads:

FileFront has been acquired by the original founders of the site and will NOT be suspended as previously announced. This is NOT an April Fool’s Joke.

Several more paragraphs of that make it rather clear that, yes, this is not a joke. As of writing, all “previously suspended” services are up and running, and the new/old owners “look forward to improving FileFront and serving the gaming community for years to come.”

A popular online destination for the latest computer game demos, patches, and mods, FileFront has announced that come March 30th it will be no more.

Visitors to FileFront today are being directed to a farewell message, explaining that the current economic environment has forced the website to close its doors indefinitely. Members of the site are cautioned to save any blog posts or stored files before Monday, March 30th, or risk losing them forever.

We would like to give a warm thank you to all of you who have been part of the FileFront communities we have built together. Your support has had a meaningful impact for all of us here at FileFront. Again, we want to give you a sincere “thank you” for your support over the years and wish you all the very best.

FileFront owner Ziff Davis held on to the PC games site during the sale of the 1UP Network to UGO early this year, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Farewell, FileFront! You had a great run, and your 90 terabytes of storage space shall be sorely missed.

Farewell from FileFront [FileFront - Thanks everyone]

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]

What began as a rumour last month has now escalated into full-blown fact; Ziff Davis have officially sold the 1UP network to competitors Hearst, owners of UGO.com.

Hearst – who more importantly own many of the nation’s biggest newspapers along with ownership stakes in ESPN and the History Channel – will however only be taking ownership of the network’s online presence.

Which means long-running print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly won’t be along for the ride. This will be the last month the magazine is published, bringing to an end nearly two decades of independent, influential games editorial.

RIP, games magazines. Below is an email sent to Ziff employees by company CEO Jason Young earlier today, courtesy of Gamasutra:

Team:

We are announcing today the sale of our 1UP digital business to UGO Entertainment, a division of Hearst Corporation.

Over the course of the last 4 years we have built the 1UP sites into a top tier gaming digital destination. While our growth has been sharp, it has become apparent that more scale is necessary to effectively compete in this market segment.

We made the decision that the best path to putting our award winning 1UP brand and content in a more competitive position was to combine it with the operations of another publisher. We received much interest from other parties.

After a comprehensive process, this morning we completed a deal with Hearst Interactive, the owner and operator of UGO Entertainment. 1UP.com, MyCheats.com, Gamevideos.com, and Gametab.com will now all be part of the UGO Entertainment business. Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team.

With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of EGM. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.

We will continue to operate the Filefront business as a part of the PCMag Digital Network. In the coming months we will determine the best ways to leverage the scale and functionality of this digital property to expand our business position.

The Ziff Davis position in the gaming market has been significant and important to our company and the market itself. While many of our assets in the PCMag Digital Network (including Filefront now) will continue to cover this market, it’s important that we celebrate all that we have achieved over the last 25 years.

Our leadership in print for decades with titles like Computer Gaming World and EGM which in turn translated into the build out of one of the leading digital gaming media assets in 1UP are prime examples of the skill, passion, and expertise of our teams.and what they achieved.

It’s incredible to compare the 1UP.com of today versus that of 12 months ago. I want to thank everybody in our Game Group for their important contributions over the years.

For Ziff Davis Media, our attention and focus now shifts squarely to the PC Mag Digital Network. The proceeds from this transaction will be used to pay down debt. One of the primary objectives of our business plan is ensuring that we have plenty of room to service our debt obligations into the future, and manage for growth in what will be a challenging year in the advertising market.

While the market will be tough, we are confident our position is well aligned to where the demand is most active. We move forward as a 100% digital business with tenured brand position, and powerful capabilities to drive results for our customers. I look forward to sharing more updates in the coming weeks.

JY.

Interesting how he says “many” of their employees, not “all” of them.

Breaking: Ziff Davis Sells 1UP To UGO/Hearst, Closes EGM [Gamasutra]

Next year will be EGM’s 20th year in print, should it last until summer of 2009 for its two decade anniversary. Young tells the New York Times that Ziff Davis is “considering” moving EGM to an online-only format on 1UP.com, but would not make the decision before end of year.

Young blamed rising costs associated with print and decreased advertising as reasons for the closing of PC Magazine.

Ziff Davis filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and is working on eliminating its debt. The publisher has shut down a number of print pubs over the past few years, including the Official PlayStation Magazine, GMR and most recently Games For Windows: The Magazine.

PC Magazine, a Flagship for Ziff Davis, Will Cease Printing a Paper Version [New York Times via Gamasutra]

The poor economic conditions have created a very different and difficult dynamic for us this year, and we weren’t confident that we could present a show experience that was consistent with the successes of prior years.

He goes on to say they’re optimistic the show can return in 2009, but we’re not doing anything drastic like holding our breath.

Bad economy kills this year’s DigitalLife Expo [Cnet]

“The Court’s confirmation of our Plan is a major milestone for Ziff Davis as we look to emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring,” said Jason Young, Chief Executive Officer of Ziff Davis Media. “We are very proud of the progress we have made during our short time in Chapter 11 to become a healthier company. We remain grateful for the unwavering support of our customers, vendors and employees throughout this process and we look forward to continuing our work with all of our stakeholders after our emergence. After concluding our restructuring, we will be better positioned, with the financial strength to grow and capitalise on our strengths.”

The plan, in a nutshell, splits the $AU 452.82 million in debt between new stock and a $AU 60.84 million debt.

I’m happy to see that both 1Up and EGM survived the turmoil. Let’s hope that they both recover as stronger entities than when ZD first filed.

Court Confirms Ziff Davis Media’s Plan Of Reorganization

Company Expects to Emerge From Chapter 11 on July 1, 2008

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Ziff Davis Media Inc. (”Ziff Davis” or the “Company”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Ziff Davis Holdings Inc., today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) confirmed Ziff Davis’s “Second Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan Of Reorganization,” dated May 6, 2008 (the “Plan”). Ziff Davis currently expects to emerge from Chapter 11 on July 1, 2008.

“The Court’s confirmation of our Plan is a major milestone for Ziff Davis as we look to emerge from Chapter 11 restructuring,” said Jason Young, Chief Executive Officer of Ziff Davis Media. “We are very proud of the progress we have made during our short time in Chapter 11 to become a healthier company. We remain grateful for the unwavering support of our customers, vendors and employees throughout this process and we look forward to continuing our work with all of our stakeholders after our emergence. After concluding our restructuring, we will be better positioned, with the financial strength to grow and capitalise on our strengths.”

As previously announced, the Plan substantially de-leverages Ziff Davis’s balance sheet by converting over $428 million in funded indebtedness to (a) new common stock of reorganized Ziff Davis Media and (b) a new note of $57.5 million. The acceptance of the Plan by voting creditors was overwhelming. The Plan provides Ziff Davis with sufficient cash to fund its exit from Chapter 11 as well as its ongoing business plan. This funding will enable the Company to finance its Chapter 11 exit obligations as well as ongoing operations for the foreseeable future.

More information about Ziff Davis’s reorganization, including the Plan and Disclosure Statement, are available at www.bmcgroup.com.

Today, speaking at the 11th Annual Electronic Gaming Summit, Ziff Davis Media CEO Jason Young told the gathered summit members that the restructuring process will be wrapped up in June. More importantly, he noted that their $US 400 million debt will be reduced to a paltry $US 57 million, leaving them with the cash flow to invest back in their products, which includes 1Up, EGM and GameVideos.

Sounds like Simon Cox, , Vice President of Content for the 1UP network, hit the nail on the head when he said they would be bigger, better, faster, stronger when they came out of the restructuring.

Stay tuned later today for reports on talks given to this small group by Microsoft’s Jeff Bell;, analyst Michael Pachter; Tanya Giles, of MTV; and the always energetic Peter Moore.

“Once we re-emerge from the other side of this, fully intact (as we assuredly will be), we will have reduced that debt significantly, and the payments that go with it,” Simon says. “Our earnings will once again be our own, and we will have spare cash to invest in building bigger, better, faster, stronger and better-looking websites and magazines”.

As soon as ZD gets that debt monkey of its back, the 1UP network and its print brethren are due for some internal investment, which is super duper positive.

So, chin up, subscribers and podcast listeners. It’s not the end of EGM as we know it.

That Chapter 11 thing… [1UP]