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ABC Results Jul-Dec 2006:Turbulent Second Half For PC & Gaming Magazine Sector

ABC Results Jul-Dec 2006:Turbulent Second Half For PC & Gaming Magazine Sector

Computing Magazines As with the rest of the magazine market, the gaming and computer sector also had a turbulent time, with many of the titles recording declines.

Future Publishing’s Official Nintendo Magazine was not one of them though, as it recorded an increase of over 14% year on year and almost 21% period on period, no doubt due to the launch of Nintendo’s Wii console.

Official Playstation 2 Magazine, also published by Future, was down by more than 40% year on year, shedding more than 55,700 copies from its total figure, although it remained the market leader. Of course, as newer consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and the forthcoming Playstation 3 are released onto the market it is inevitable that the magazine’s circulation will fall.

Xbox World 360 enjoyed a year on year increase of almost 22%, an increase in actual terms of more than 4,100 copies, lifting its circulation to 23,200. The Xbox mag with the largest circulation figure was Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine, which recorded a circulation of over 56,000 up more than 31% period on period.

Within the computer magazine sector, MacFormat, saw an increase of just over 14% year on year, to take its total circulation figure to over 19,600, while PC Format dropped by 21.7% year on year.

Gaming Magazines: Jul-Dec 2006 Year On Year Comparisons
Title Publisher Jul-Dec 05 Jul-Dec 06 Actual Change % Ch
Edge Future Publishing 33,522 35,145 1,623 4.8
GamesMaster Future Publishing 55,520 53,904 -1,616 -2.9
Official Nintendo Magazine Future Publishing 37,578 42,960 5,382 14.3
Official Playstation 2 Magazine Future Publishing 132,069 76,351 -55,718 -42.2
PC Gamer Future Publishing 48,699 43,620 -5,079 -10.4
PC Zone Future Publishing 33,580 27,002 -6,578 -19.6
Play Imagine Publishing 53,102 29,086 -24,016 -45.2
PSM3 Future Publishing 40,428 26,584 -13,844 -34.2
PSW (Formerly Playstation World) Future Publishing 43,708 26,003 -17,705 -40.5
X360 Imagine Publishing 27,525 28,006 481 1.7
Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine Future Publishing n/a 56,057 n/a n/a
Xbox World 360 Future Publishing 19,048 23,202 4,154 21.8

Computing Magazines: Jul-Dec 2006 Year On Year Comparisons
Title Publisher Jul-Dec 05 Jul-Dec 06 Actual Change % Ch
MacFormat Future Publishing 17,191 19,613 2,422 14.1
PC Format Future Publishing 36,320 28,439 -7,881 -21.7

The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 15 February 2007. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database.

ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk

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