Ziff Davis Expands Global Licensing Strategy with New IGN France Partnership

Ziff Davis, the parent company of IGN Entertainment and GamesIndustry.biz, has announced a new partnership with European media company eMense to operate IGN France, as part of its broader international licensing expansion strategy. The move also comes alongside plans to launch a French edition of CNET through a separate partnership, further strengthening the company’s global media presence.

IGN France has been operating since 2020 under a team led by Editor-in-Chief Erwan Lafleuriel, and the existing editorial team will continue to run the platform under the new partnership. Lafleuriel described the transition to eMense as an important step forward that will help grow the platform and build on the progress already made over the past few years. The IGN France website was originally launched in 2015 by Webedia, which still operates IGN Brasil.

Ziff Davis already has an established relationship with eMense, which operates several regional IGN platforms including IGN Benelux, IGN Nordic and IGN Germany. With the addition of IGN France, eMense will expand its reach significantly, bringing its total audience across four IGN platforms to approximately 16 million users, based on analytics and platform data.

According to Ziff Davis, European markets are highly competitive and require strong local strategies to engage audiences and advertisers. The company believes eMense has demonstrated the ability to grow IGN’s presence in regional markets through localized content, audience engagement and advertising strategies.

eMense CEO Camiel Slingerland said that gaming, entertainment and fan culture are extremely popular in France, making it a logical next step in the company’s expansion strategy. He also expressed enthusiasm about working with the existing IGN France team and growing the platform further.

Globally, IGN reaches around 366 million users across more than 30 international editions serving over 100 countries. Ziff Davis has increasingly focused on licensing its media brands internationally rather than operating all regional platforms directly, allowing local partners to manage content and advertising while maintaining global brand consistency.

The upcoming launch of a French version of CNET is another example of this strategy. By partnering with local media companies, Ziff Davis is expanding its international footprint while leveraging local expertise to grow audiences and advertising revenue in new markets.

Overall, the IGN France partnership and the planned launch of CNET France highlight Ziff Davis’s strategy of global expansion through licensing, partnerships and localized media operations.