News Corp, owned by media giant Rupert Murdoch, acquired IGN Entertainment for approximately $650 million in cash. This will bring the three of the larger gaming sites and IGN’s 320 employees under the News Corp umbrella. Three of the larger game related sites included in the acquisition include:

• IGN.com: PC games, console games, mobile console games and wireless games, with subsites focused focused on film, music and sports
• Gamespy: PC content and provider of matchmaking and networking middleware for games
• FilePlanet: Game demos, mods and pathches

Other game entities in the IGN family include TeamXbox, 3D Gamers, GameStats and the Planet and Vault networks. Non-game related sites that were owned by IGN include Rotten Tomatoes and AskMen.

IGN Entertainment had applied for an IPO in July, but the financial community was luke-warm to the company’s history of “losses every year, including a net loss attributable to holders of common stock of $18.9 million in 2004 and $3.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2005”. Even with an IPO, the markets were uncertain that IGN would be able to restructure itself into a profitable company.

The acquisition by News Corp offers new possibilities to revamping IGN. News Corp bring deep pockets to the table along with large a media empire which includes DirectTv, Fox television, significant film companies and a large number of other online entities. Let’s not forget about News Corp’s recent $580 million purchase of Intermix Media (MySpace.com) and an earlier purchase of Scout Media. These outlets offer tremendous cross promotional opportunities, access to new audiences and an ability to consolidate overhead.

It is also quite possible that G4TV will see a new competitor on the airwaves within the next 6 to 24 months.

One important common thread in all of these acquisitions is that they have all been cash transactions. It is possible that the owners of each company being acquired simply wanted to cash out and not risk the future of a combination on a partial stock payout. However, it is more likely that Rupert Murdoch and News Corp see possibilities for these outlets that are far from the direction of their previous owners.

The question on everyone’s mind is who will be next? Given News Corp’s growing interest in the technology and gaming industries, it may be a good idea to watch CNet, which owns Gamespot. Rupert Murdoch also mentioned last month that he was planning to purchase an online search company.