Case Study: IGN Entertainment achieves an 18% increase in video clicks and faster product development with Optimizely

How IGN Moves Fast and Challenges Assumptions

IGN, the web’s largest video-game publisher with 68 million monthly users, faced a challenge: even tiny design changes could meaningfully affect key metrics like video and page views, while cross-functional debate and long development cycles risked slowing product progress or producing harmful changes.

To solve this, IGN adopted a company-wide A/B testing culture using Optimizely to rapidly validate design and product ideas—testing multiple video player and thumbnail variations, sharing results across teams, and keeping brand principles in play. The approach sped up development, fostered data-driven decisions, and delivered measurable gains (an 18% increase in clicks on video poster states), while allowing IGN to reject test wins that conflicted with their brand.

IGN Entertainment

Todd Northcutt

VP of Product