Kotaku has officially been sold, new owner addresses staff job security

The gaming news site Kotaku has officially been sold off to a new buyer, which will not be cleaning house of Kotaku's editorial team.

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Axios has confirmed that G/O Media has sold the gaming news website Kotaku to Keleops, the same European media company that acquired Gizmodo approximately a year ago. Axios reports that Kotaku won't have any senior staff removed as part of the acquisition and that Keleops actually intends to hire more senior talent.

Keleops CEO Jean-Guillaume Kleis spoke to Axios and declined to comment on how much Kotaku was sold for, and that in the short term, he had no immediate strategy shifts as he has yet to meet with the website's editor-in-chief.

Keleops launched in 2014 and has since acquired four French media brands: 01net, Journal du Geek, Presse Citron, and IPhon. The company is privately owned and is profitable, according to Axios, with Keleops having the goal of breaking more into the US market with its growing portfolio of technology-based websites.

Notably, Keleops' US monthly audience has grown 100% compared to the same time last year, and Gizmodo, which it acquired last year, has grown a staggering 400%, according to Kleis. The CEO expects Gizmodo will continue to grow this year and next year.

"We expect [Gizmodo] to grow even bigger this year and then next year as well," Kleis said. "That's why we wanted to double down on the U.S. and make another significant acquisition."

"AI will never replace journalists, especially high-quality journalists," Kleis said. "That's why we're really focusing on experienced people bringing a lot of value to our readers, creating an engaged community."