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==History==
[[File:Ignentertainmenthq.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Nondescript eight-story beige building with black windows striped across|IGN Entertainment's former headquarters in [[Brisbane, California]]]]
Created in September 1996 as the ''Imagine Games Network'', the ''IGN'' content network was founded by publishing executive Jonathan Simpson-Bint and began as five individual websites within [[Future US|Imagine Media]]: ''N64.com'' (later renamed ''ign64.com''), ''PSXPower'', ''Saturnworld'', ''Next-Generation.com'' and ''Ultra Game Players Online''. Imagine expanded on its owned-and-operated websites by creating an affiliate network that included a number of independent fansites such as ''PSX Nation.com'', ''Sega-Saturn.com'', ''Game Sages'', and [[GameFAQs]]. In 1998, the network launched a new homepage that consolidated the individual sites as system channels under the ''IGN'' brand. The homepage exposed content from more than 30 different channels. Websites [[Next Generation (magazine)|Next-Generation]] and [[Game Players|Ultra Game Players Online]] were not part of this consolidation; U.G.P.O. dissolved with the cancellation of the magazine, and Next-Generation was put "on hold" when Imagine decided to concentrate on launching the short-lived [[Daily Radar]] brand.
In February 1999, ''[[PC Magazine]]'' named ''IGN'' one of the hundred-best websites, alongside competitors [[GameSpot]] and [[CNET Gamecenter]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Willmott |first=Don |date=February 9, 1999 |title=The 100 Top Web Sites |magazine=[[PC Magazine]] |volume=18 |page=114 |issn=0888-8507 |number=3}}</ref> That same month, Imagine Media incorporated a spin-off that included ''IGN'' and its affiliate channels as Affiliation Networks, while Simpson-Bint remained at the former company. In September, the newly spun-out standalone internet media company, changed its name to Snowball.com. At the same time, small entertainment website The Den merged into ''IGN'' and added non-gaming content to the growing network. Snowball held an IPO in 2000, but shed most of its other properties during the [[dot-com bubble]]. ''IGN'' prevailed with growing audience numbers and a newly established subscription service called ''IGN'' Insider (later ''IGN'' Prime), which led to the shedding of the name "Snowball" and adoption of IGN Entertainment on May 10, 2002.
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