Two of the Internet's leading video game companies, IGN Entertainment and GameSpy Industries, on Thursday said they will merge to create a company offering gaming news, information, downloads, data services and community features.

San Francisco-based IGN and Irvine, California-based GameSpy, both of which are privately held, said the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2004. IGN Chief Executive Mark Jung will be CEO of the combined company, and GameSpy Chairman Mark Surfas will be chief strategy officer.

IGN was publicly traded until August, when it went private in a buyout lead by Great Hill Partners and the IGN management team. It is best known for both free and subscription content on games and gaming hardware.

GameSpy provides both gaming content and also gaming technology, allowing publishers to put their games online and manage communities of players.

The combined company will have 194,000 paying subscribers to content and technology services, with more than 26 million registered users.

Both the IGN.com and GameSpy.com brands are expected to be retained after the deal closes, the two sides said in a statement.