Futures games mag sales up 23%

Future Publishing has revealed that every console magazine in its portfolio has boosted its circulation in the last year, with Official Nintendo Magazine rising 37 per cent and Official Xbox 360 Magazine jumping up 19 per cent.

The latest ABCs show that in the year ending December 31st 2007, combined copy sales of Future’s games magazines have increased by 23 per cent. Official PlayStation Magazine also announced a debut ABC of 46,018 copies, helped by last year’s price cut and new SKU.

Future’s multi-format magazines Edge and GamesMaster also reported period-on-period increases, while Xbox World 360 increased sales by 37 per cent year-on-year to 31,698 copies. Unofficial titles PSM3 and PSW also recorded period-on-period growth.

NGamer also posted a debut ABC of 17,047, making it the UK’s best-selling unofficial Nintendo magazine.

Future also boasted of increases in their online portfolio – According to HBX statistics for January 2008, the GamesRadar network (which includes CVG.co.uk) now attracts 6.3m unique users a month.

But the publisher’s PC magazines fared worse, with year-on-year circulation declines for both PC Gamer and PC Zone.

The latest news from Future’s games business shows there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful about gaming media. Future commands a rapidly growing audience of gaming enthusiasts, with marked increases in all areas of operation – across print, digital and event portfolios,” said chief executive of Future UK Robert Price.

We’ve seen the rapid growth of the GamesRadar online network alongside an increase within our print portfolio, which demonstrates both can successfully co-exist. We continue to invest and invigorate our Official and independent games magazines – and Future now publishes all three official magazines for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony in both the UK and US. More than ever Future now offers advertisers unrivalled access to a passionate audience of young males across multiple media platforms.”

Future’s full year ABC figures in full:

Edge: 31,304
Period-on-period comparison: +4%

GamesMaster: 51,389
Period-on-period comparison: +8%

NGamer: 17,048
Period-on-period comparison: N/A

Official Nintendo Magazine: 58,754
Period-on-period comparison: +23%

Official PlayStation Magazine: 46,018
Period-on-period comparison: N/A

PC Gamer: 38,654
Period-on-period comparison: -7%

PC Zone: 22,297
Period-on-period comparison: -9%

PSM3: 26,885
Period-on-period comparison: +11%

PSW: 21,826
Period-on-period comparison: +27%

Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine: 66,894
Period-on-period comparison: +2%

Xbox World 360: 31,698
Period-on-period comparison: +5%