• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 15, 2005

The boom in Internet advertising has spurred online gaming network IGN Entertainment, Inc. to file this week for an initial public offering of up to $200 million in common stock. IGN operates a variety of online gaming sites, in addition to the entertainment sites Rotten Tomatoes and IGN FilmForce, and male lifestyle site AskMen.com.

In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, IGN reported unaudited ad revenue of $9.45 million for the quarter ending March 31--almost twice the company's $5.014 million in ad revenue for the first quarter of 2004. Revenue from subscriptions and services reached $4.293 million in the first three months of the year, amounting to 31 percent of the company's total revenue, up from 23 percent for the whole of 2004. Despite the spike in subscriptions, IGN stated it anticipates that ad dollars will "continue to represent the substantial majority" of total revenue.

While the preliminary prospectus indicates revenues are rising, the company has never been profitable. "We have a history of losses, and, even with the proceeds from this offering, we may not have sufficient cash to achieve profitability," reads the document. As of March 31, IGN had a total deficit of $23.3 million, including a net loss of 3.4 million during the first quarter.

The SEC filing also outlined details of recent key acquisitions. The company paid $13.5 million in May for AskMen.com, and agreed to pay $7.8 million for its July 2004 purchase of movie site Rotten Tomatoes.

IGN previously went public in March 2000, then was taken private in a deal led by investor group Great Hill Partners, LLC.