G/O Media is down to having just one outlet under its umbrella, with the beleaguered media company selling gaming and culture-focused website Kotaku on Wednesday.
Keleops, the Switzerland-based digital company with a focus on tech coverage, purchased Kotaku for an undisclosed sum. This is the second deal between G/O Media and Keleops, after the latter purchased Gizmodo in June 2024.
The Root, following Wednesday’s deal, is now the lone editorial brand that is part of G/O Media, the former home to several prominent sites like Deadspin, The AV Club, The Onion and Lifehacker.
G/O Media has been busy selling off its media companies over the past two years as it winds down its digital operations. The company sold business site Quartz in April in a deal that saw all remaining staffers beyond editor-in-chief Dan Hirschhorn and executive editor Sarah Douglass lose their jobs.
The offloading of its media brands started with the sale of Lifehacker being sold to Ziff Davis in early 2023, and Jezebel was sold later that year; one-off deals have continued to take place since then, leading up to Wednesday’s latest sale.
G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller told The New York Times on Wednesday “it became clear to our investors that it was time to move on” from Kotaku and its other media properties.
Spanfeller said investors are not confident in the digital media space, as artificial intelligence threatens to replace writers and digital ad revenue is harder to come by. G/O Media is owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“We are thrilled to welcome the entire Kotaku team to Keleops,” Keleops CEO Jean-Guillaume Kleis said in a statement to TheWrap.
“Kotaku isn’t just a brand — it’s a home for gamers and a place where the culture keeps moving forward,” he continued. “We are honored to shape its future and make such an iconic gaming brand part of our family, as part of our bold vision for Keleops and ongoing U.S. expansion.”
