Games magazine specialist declines option to reveal six-monthly circulation figures for 2009
Future Publishing will decline to release six-monthly ABC figures for any of its games portfolio tomorrow, MCV can reveal.
The publisher has traditionally released the data – which shows its magazine sales numbers from January 1st to June 31st – every August.
However, this year the publisher has opted to keep the information private. A full audit for the calendar year is still expected from Future in February 2010.
Future owns games titles such as Edge, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Nintendo Magazine and Official PlayStation Magazine.
The monthly consumer magazine climate has become notoriously tough as the recession bites.
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In February, Future posted annual ABC increases for five of its eleven gaming magazines, with PlayStation titles OPM and PSW posting the biggest gains.
However, circulation figures for Future’s PC and multiformat game mags slipped.
GamesMaster dropped from 51,389 readers to 40,940, while Edge dropped from 31,304 readers to 28,898. PC Gamer and PC Zone also saw their ABC results slide.
The firm’s games portfolio also suffered a ‘challenging’ fourth quarter in the three months to December 31st 2008, with total revenue up just one per cent to £41 million.
Comments
RIP Magazines....
Gone are the days when I'd buy magazines, I just rely on websites for news now. I do subscribe to Edge but I'm going to cancel it this week. At £4.50 a month if you don't subscribe, is a hefty price to pay for a magazine.
RIP Magazines
I never renewed my Edge subscription this year for the first time in 7 years.I get all the info i need off the web,i may still buy the odd copy from time to time in the shops but magazine prices in general are far too high in my opinion.
No surprise
there is only one reason why you don't audit: bad results. And it's not just restricted to print for Future. One look at GamesRadar on Comscore shows the accompanying online decline of Future - and they won't even release UK figures for their websites (less than a million in total is the rumour, a third of GameSpot/IGN, who are online-only and more focused on the platform
).
Good job they have their custom publishing business to shore them up...
Last time around
During the last recession Future thrived. They had a stable of extremely well written magazines that were often the market leaders for whatever format they covered.
Fast forward to 2009 and the quality of writing in games magazines has dropped across all the publishers. People say the internet has killed magazines, but the fact is there is an almost total lack of quality writing in the printed media.
You can't even rely on magazines for honest reviews anymore. These days 90% = 65% in old money due to every magazine being "official" or the publisher being terrified that the software company might withdraw advertising.
Ironically the home of Official Playstation Magazine (or whatever its called these days) is the exact same company that used to encourage magazines like Amiga Power to give honest reviews. Bet they'd give their right arm for a magazine that could shift the kind of numbers Amiga Format used to........ or even 8000 Plus! (one for the ex-PCW owners there).
RIP
I really don't think there's much of a Future here!
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