Interviewing at ign entertainment can be an exciting yet nerve-wracking experience. As a leading media brand in gaming, entertainment, and tech, ign sets a high bar for talent. Standing out requires thorough preparation and insight into the company’s values.
In this article I’ll share 10 common ign interview questions provide tips to help you craft winning responses, and highlight what ign looks for in prospective team members. With the right approach, you can land your dream job at this dynamic industry leader.
Overview of ign entertainment
Founded in 1996, ign entertainment began as a gaming website called Imagine Games Network. It has since evolved into a digital media giant and cultural hub for video games, movies, TV shows, tech, and comics
ign reaches over 100 million monthly users across its stable of sites like ign.com, GameSpot, Mashable, and more. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices across the globe.
ign’s hiring process typically involves multiple interviews, including phone screens, video interviews, and in-person meetings. The questions aim to assess both your hard and soft skills. Technical roles will also include skills tests.
Throughout the interviews, ign looks for:
- Passion for gaming, entertainment and tech
- Strong writing, verbal, and analytical abilities
- Ability to meet deadlines and handle pressure
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills
With preparation and practice, you can develop concise, thoughtful responses to common ign interview questions. Let’s look at the top 10 questions and how to tackle them.
1. Why do you want to work for ign?
This question gauges your knowledge of and enthusiasm for the company. ign wants to know what attracts you to their brand and culture.
Tips:
- Research ign thoroughly, including their history, evolution, sites/platforms, and recent projects
- Express your passion for ign’s focus areas – gaming, entertainment, tech
- Share how you personally engage with ign’s content and communities
- Highlight aspects of ign’s culture and values that align with your own
- Tailor your response to the specific role you’re applying for
Example: “I’ve been an avid ign fan since my early gaming days in the 90s. Beyond just gaming news and reviews, I love that ign facilitates meaningful discussions around entertainment and tech. If I joined ign as a staff writer, I would be thrilled to engage with the vibrant ign community and produce content that’s insightful as well as fun. ign’s participatory culture and passion for all things gaming deeply resonate with me.”
2. What relevant experience do you have for this role?
ign wants to know that you have the right background and skill-set for the open position. Focus on showcasing transferable skills.
Tips:
- Thoroughly review the job description and highlight skills that directly match
- Provide specific examples that demonstrate you have the hard and soft skills needed
- Reference similar roles you’ve held and quantify your contributions/achievements
- Draw parallels between your current experiences and ign’s work
- Emphasize eagerness to learn – ign values this attitude
Example: “As a freelance writer for various gaming sites over the past 3 years, I’ve honed my ability to produce engaging, SEO-friendly content on tight deadlines. For example, at GameRant I repeatedly drove over 100k pageviews for my articles through compelling headlines and intros. I also have 3 years of social media management experience, achieving a 25% follower increase across channels for DigiTales. I’m confident my writing and digital media skills would translate seamlessly to an associate editor role at ign.”
3. How do you stay up-to-date on trends in gaming and entertainment?
ign is obsessed with gaming and pop culture. Demonstrating your own passion and knowledge is key.
Tips:
- Share specific sources you regularly follow – magazines, YouTube channels, forums, etc
- Highlight participation in fan communities on platforms like Reddit or Discord
- Mention accounts you follow on social media and what drew you to them
- Discuss enthusiast events or conventions you attend to connect with fellow fans
- Reference methods like data analysis, user surveys, and interviews for more formal research
Example: “I stay plugged into the gaming and entertainment space in a few ways. I subscribe to ign’s YouTube channels as well as creators like Jacksepticeye for hands-on impressions. I’m active on Reddit communities like r/games and r/Television to discuss announcements and theories. I also monitor Twitter trends and often find new music artists through viral memes or moments. More formally, I regularly read reports from research firms like Newzoo for industry analysis, and I attend events like PAX East to take the pulse of gaming culture.”
4. How would you approach reviewing or critiquing a game?
This tests both your process for evaluating games as well as your communication skills. Share your philosophy.
Tips:
- Discuss balancing objective analysis and subjective experience
- Describe your criteria for judging mechanics, narrative, graphics, etc.
- Explain methods for capturing broad appeal vs niche interests
- Share how you’d communicate criticism constructively and fairly
- Reference using data and testing to supplement opinions
Example: “When reviewing games, I aim to find the right balance between objective critiques and my own subjective enjoyment. I analyze tangible elements like graphics, UI, mechanics, and level design while also capturing how the game made me feel. My criteria focus on innovation, controls, challenge, immersion, and technical polish. I supplement my personal playthroughs with data on accessibility options, user feedback, and comparisons to similar titles. Above all, I prioritize constructive criticism, acknowledging that diverse players appreciate games for different reasons. My goal is to provide a trustworthy review that informs players while sparking meaningful conversations around the game.”
5. How would you approach increasing traffic to ign content?
ign wants to see strategic thinking for driving growth. Demonstrate analytical abilities and creativity.
Tips:
- Discuss studying user data to identify opportunities
- Propose innovative content formats and partnerships
- Suggest methods for better SEO and leveraging social media
- Recommend enhancements to ign’s UX design and distribution
- Reference ign’s existing successful platforms as examples
- Emphasize a data-driven yet creative approach
Example: “I would drive traffic growth by analyzing user behavior data to pinpoint opportunities. For example, we could create exclusive gameplay content with popular Twitch streamers to engage that audience. I would A/B test innovative long-form and short-form content styles tailored to different platforms. Refreshing old evergreen content using new multimedia formats like ign’s Unlocked series could also boost search visibility. Optimizing headlines and intros for SEO and sharing to TikTok and other social channels would help content circulate more widely. Overall I would blend creative ideation with data-driven decision making to expand ign’s reach.”
6. How do you handle working under pressure or tight deadlines?
ign’s fast-paced environment requires resilience and time management skills. Share your strategies.
Tips:
- Demonstrate you understand the nature of the industry
- Discuss work methods like lists, schedules, and sprints
- Highlight experience delivering under pressure
- Share tactics for staying focused like minimizing distractions
- Reference collaborating with team members and delegating
- Convey a positive attitude and eagerness for the challenge
Example: “I thrive on the energy of fast-paced environments. As a freelance writer, I regularly juggle tight deadlines and shifting priorities. To stay on track, I break projects into stages with milestones and use productivity tools to track progress. Minimizing distractions and avoiding multitasking also helps me focus when under the gun. I enjoy the adrenaline rush of delivering something great under pressure. Working collaboratively with teammates to get over the finish line is hugely rewarding. Rather than feel stressed, I see tight deadlines as opportunities to flex my creative muscles and problem-solving abilities.”
7. How would you handle a disagreement with team members or leadership?
ign wants collaborators who can communicate effectively and think critically. Show emotional intelligence.
Tips:
- Emphasize mutual understanding and finding solutions
- Discuss being open-minded and actively listening
- Share how you constructively present counter perspectives
- Explain when you would defer to others’ expertise or experience
- Reference relying on data or seeking third party input
- Convey maturity, professionalism, and commitment to teamwork
Example: “When facing disagreement, my focus is on reaching mutual understanding through open dialogue. I prioritize active listening so I can fully grasp my teammate’s perspective. If we disagree on specifics like wording or framing, I aim to find common ground and compromise. For larger conflicts regarding editorial direction or company policies, I would present my counter view professionally and respectfully. If based on subjective difference in opinion, I would ultimately defer to my team’s wisdom and experience. Maintaining humility as well as commitment to ign’s shared mission helps me resolve conflicts constructively.”
Who we are
IGN’s mission is to be the world leader in games and entertainment. Our main focus is on news and critical content, fan culture, and in-depth game help for gamers. We deliver this content through all major channels and formats.
We mostly use the usual ways of reporting on those fields, like news, previews, reviews, and interviews. But we’ve also changed to fit the changing ways that media and fan communities work. As their voice, we want to answer the questions our readers ask and make good use of our access to the stars, creators, and information they want. We keep up with the community and culture of fans and the entertainment they like while also guiding the conversations that are going on by using our connections, our knowledge, and our duties as reporters and readers’ representatives.
We are passionate fans of games, TV, movies, comics, and consumer tech. We are social influencers/personalities in addition to being journalists. We serve our readers by using our deep understanding of these entertainment worlds, and we do it with the same excitement that our readers feel when they read it. We try to learn and have fun with the topics we cover by having a wide range of hosts and panelists on our shows. We’d also love to work with you to help us extend our reach, depth of knowledge, and voice.
How to work with us
We have regular freelance jobs available in all of our departments, depending on your skills and what our editors need at any given time. Many of these needs are related to new releases and current events, so if you want to pitch us something, it’s always a good idea to know about the newest games, movies, and TV shows and what people are talking about them.
Different news outlets have different priorities and writing styles. We always tell our freelancers to keep sending us ideas for features or long-form news stories, even if we turn some down. This page will be kept as up to date as possible as part of our effort to give you feedback. That way, if we do turn down a pitch, you’ll know why, and you’ll also know how to best pitch us in the future based on feedback about our voice and our current priorities. And don’t worry — we’ll pitch you directly, too.
We know it’s helpful to have some information right away, though, so we’d like to give you as much information, advice, and openness as we can to help you get started and make the pitches we want to hear.
Games Features
Entertainment Features
As with games features, entertainment features include a wide variety of stories in both article and video form. Lore explainers (example: Tales of the Jedi Explained) are an approach we’re always looking for as fan-fave comics, books, characters, and stories are always being adapted to movies/TV ($300 base rate, flexible). That also includes Ending Explained and Burning Questions style articles around the latest movie and TV releases. Reported features outside the usual press junket beat are always of interest, like the time the four original Hobbits reconnected after more than 10 years and we were there for it (base rate of $300, can go up depending on complexity). For more extensive pieces that involve reporting and video scripting, we are always looking for pitches for Art of the Scene and Inside Stories ($500+ and $1000+, respectively). We’re also looking for pitches for The Story So Far, X Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know ($350-$400 average for scripts with annotations), as well as any unique and interesting takes on the latest movies and TV shows ($300 base rate, flexible for articles). As noted with our games features above, features can take many forms and we’d love to hear pitches on all of them.
News
IGN’s news coverage is hugely wide-ranging, both in form and subject. We write everything from daily quick-turnaround breaking news (with a base rate of $30 for a 20- to 30-minute turnaround story, rising based on complexity of story), to deeper dives on topical subjects (typically starting at $300 for a write-up supported by interviews or other extended research) to investigative reports (negotiated per-project, typically starting at $400). We cover gaming, movies, TV, tech, and science, and look for topics as diverse as games industry acquisitions or the latest scientific theories about dinosaurs. Our freelance team reflects those needs, and we’re always on the lookout for writers who can help with short, reactive stories in office hours, as well as those with the contacts and expertise to chase a lead and work up a complex piece of original reporting (or both!). Right now, we’re particularly keen for science writers, especially those able to find newly published studies in our areas of interest and recontextualize them for the IGN audience. We’re also interested in fan community angles, diving into cultural moments across gaming, movies and TV – think Elden Ring’s Let Me Solo Her.
Previews
For preview coverage, IGN is always looking for great writers who can look at upcoming games critically but in the right context. These writers should look closely at what is shown while keeping in mind that the game is not finished yet and may change before it’s finished and reviewed. We’re always looking to hire talented people in a lot of different fields, but right now IGN wants to meet talented writers who are experts in 4X/strategy games, sports games, and competitive shooters. We are also looking for writers who live in or near New York City so they can attend events in Manhattan. This is because in-person events are becoming more popular again. Most of the time, preview coverage costs $300 for a 700- to 1000-word piece that can be turned into a 700-word video script. If writers want to, they can do their own voiceover for the video preview. They just need a good microphone for recording.
Reviews
Fans of video games, movies, and technology will probably read about something if IGN readers are interested in it. This way, we can tell our readers if we think it’s worth their time and money and explain why. That means giving books, board games, toys like LEGO sets, and even theme park rides the same close scrutiny we give our mainstays—video games, gaming hardware, and movies. Because no one person is an expert in all of these areas, they need to be reviewed by a small army of critics with different backgrounds, tastes, technical skills, and interests. We’re always looking for movie experts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York who can go to screenings. We’re also always looking for gamers who are experts in sports games, competitive shooters, JRPGs, and other types of games.
The standard rate for movies and TV shows we review is $150 for a single 30- or 60-minute episode, $200 for a typical movie, and $350 for a whole season of TV. For games, which usually take a lot more time, our rates start at $450 for a written review (anything up to 3,000 words) and a script of about 1,400 words with gameplay capture to go with it. (Reviewers have the option to record their own voiceover if their equipment is sufficient. ) That rate can increase in special circumstances, such as extremely time-intensive games like an MMORPG. Finally, for tech reviews, we charge $250 for a normal mouse, controller, or headset and up to $400 (and sometimes even more) for things like GPUs that are more complicated or take a lot of time to review.
- We have base rates to help you see and understand how we pay, but we will always work with you to find the rate that fits the amount of work and time you’re putting into a piece. Often, features and other long-form reports and stories are very different from each other. Also, as you look into a story, it may develop and change, which may require more research or setting up more interviews, etc. In this case, we would talk about it together to decide if more work (and, therefore, a higher rate) is needed. You can send the pitch to other media outlets if you want to if we have to turn down your work in the end. We will pay you a “kill fee.”
- Even though some of our regular freelancers have been given direct access to the CMS, we will still often help or lead with building the CMS, including adding any extra links and styles that our style guides may call for.
- We don’t care too much about word counts or be strict about them, but we do use them as helpful guidelines for people who like to stick to them. Last but not least, we want to have an honest conversation with you about what you think is needed to tell the story you’re reporting on.
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