Founders and owners of Igromania Evgeny Isupov and Alexander Parchuk are selling the publication to an unnamed owner. Kanobu founder Haji Mahtiyev helps them in the transfer of cases.
The change of ownership became known from Isupov’s Facebook post.
Co-founder of Igromania
In connection with the announcement, we talked with Gadji Maktiyev, the founder and owner of Kanobu and RAWG, who became the operational manager of Igromania in early February.
Haji MahtievMost likely, it is not yet possible to name a new owner.
But can you clarify whether we are talking about a profile media company or a gaming one?Gadji: It’s difficult there.
I would characterize that we are talking about caring people.
The question is a little aside. As far as I know, at least two or three companies in the Russian gaming market are interested in creating their own gaming media. What do you think it might mean?Gadji:
From the point of view of the company, most likely, we are talking about optimizing the marketing costs.
Will you stay on as an operational manager after the change of ownership?Gadji: I can’t comment.
Is Gambling Addiction profitable as an asset now?Gadji:
I can’t comment.
Does the change of owner indicate that the old owner was not ready for major investments in the site that would allow him to grow and develop?Gadji:
No, it doesn’t. 22 years is still a long time by any standards. This is not an investment issue.
What, from your point of view, is the strength of the current “Gambling Addiction”, and what is the weak side, which the new owner will have to pull up first?Gadji:
A good question, but it requires a detailed answer with large elements from the interior kitchen. I think it’s premature to talk about it yet.
The last issue of the printed “Gambling Mania” was published in November 2018. Now the main asset of the Igromedia publishing house, which owns the brand, is the website. The number of visits to the site in January 2019, according to SimilarWeb, amounted to 8 million.
In November last year, another asset of the publishing house — the magazine and website “World of Fiction” — was sold to the publishing house of board games Hobby World. One of the founders of this company is Ilya Karpinsky, now Director of the Investment Division Mail.ru Games Ventures.
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