Issue 269 of Imagine’s PlayStation magazine, Play, will be the last to be seen on the shelves of newsagents. It has been running since 1995 and will continue to live on in a digital format available for both iOS and Android devices.
“The games industry owes an immense debt to magazines such as Play,” Imagine’s publishing director Aaron Asadi said. “It seems alien now but years ago these magazines were all fans had to learn about the games and consoles they loved the most.”
“But the world has changed,” he added, “There’s less space for games magazines, publishers don’t believe in the format as much, and fans have more than one way to engage with games.”
Source: MCV
cam_manutd
Sad news. Picked up the latest issue at the weekend and checked the editorial to find that this is the last issue. I’ve been reading okay mags for around 15 years now. Hopefully they find success digitally.
cam_manutd
*play. That looks real bad on second viewing :’)
The Lone Steven
The main issue that faces all printed mags is the internet. By the time it is published, a lot of the information could be out of date whilst on the net, information can be updated. It’s been declining for years and i’m not surprised Play is another one to cease production of physical things. I do recall reading OPM1 and OPM2 during my youth. Both were excellent. OPM3, if i recall correctly was a bit meh.
TSBonyman
There was a time when i would buy several gaming magazines every month, Play being one of them. The internet gradually took over in the same way it has with everything – consoles becoming internet-connected was a killing blow for gaming magazines.
I’m actually surprised they managed to keep a gaming magazine in print all this time so well done on that score and best of luck in their future endeavours.
beeje13
Hmmm, good luck to any staff who may have some uncertainty.
I was reading in OPM recently that their subscriber levels have actually increased in the past year.
Foxhound_Solid
Internet changed how we gather information, news and scoops.
Sad but true. In fairness they’ve done well to continue with paper format for so long. Sad that they’re all dropping off but we don’t buy magazines anymore. They’re redundant with Facebook and Twitter etc.
Sitorimon
I used to get the OPM1 and 2’s for the demo discs. that was my draw in and now I can get those online and so I hope they do well digitally. I’d be interested to see how peoples opinions of e-zines are and if they would pay for them.