Future To Revive Official PlayStation Magazine

Future publishing has signed a deal with Sony, reviving the Official PlayStation Magazine title for a new magazine to launch next month.

The magazine will continue to lead with editorial about the forthcoming PlayStation 3 console, which is launched in the UK next March, alongside coverage of portable console the PSP and the established PS2.

Future will continue to publish magazines dedicated to the existing consoles, Official PlayStation2 Magazine and the recently launched Official PSP Guidebook, for the foreseeable future.

Despite Future’s Official PlayStation2 Magazine recording an ABC of 100,117 for the six months to June this year, proving itself as the magazine with the largest circulation in the gaming sector, the figures indicated the title’s distribution had fallen by 33,125 year on year in real terms. Across the board in the sector, most titles saw a decline in circulation.

Official PlayStation Magazine was Future’s first Sony-approved title for its console, launched in 1995, and covered the PlayStation’s first incarnation. It was however phased out in 2004 after the PS2 became the more popular platform.

The new version of the magazine is intended to position Future to cover the changing fortunes of the PlayStation stable of consoles without changing the name of the title and its core proposition.

Future, which dominates the gaming magazine market, (see ABC Results Jan-Jun 2006:Poor First Half Of 2006 For Gaming Magazines), also secured the licence to create the official Nintendo magazine in the UK late last year (see Future Scoops Official Nintendo Publishing Rights).

Future Plus, the customer publishing agency of Future Publishing, recently helped the company to branch out, signing a deal to provide content for BT Vision (see Future Signs BT Vision Deal), the communications giant’s forthcoming IPTV service.

Future Publishing: 01225 442 244 www.futurenet.com