Dreamcast Launch Takes Games Market To Next Level
The launch of Sega’s Dreamcast obviously had a significant influence upon the games magazine market during the latter half of 1999. It left Nintendo and Sony Playstation as effectively outdated machines and titles dedicated to these ageing models began to fall out of fashion. N64 Pro lost over half its circulation on the previous year, whilst more than 28,000 magazine buyers left Official Playstation Magazine for pastures new.
The influx of newly launched Dreamcast titles was led by Dennis’ Official Dreamcast Magazine, which debuted with an audit of over 50,000. The new titles caused the sector to grow by 11.4% to 1.2 million copies.
| Gaming Magazines Circulations | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jul 98 – Dec 98 | Jul 99 – Dec 99 | Actual Change | % Change |
| 64 Magazine | Paragon Publishing | 31,062 | 25,045 | -6,017 | -19.4 |
| 64 Solutions | Paragon Publishing | 21,204 | 16,933 | -4,271 | -20.1 |
| Arcade | Future Publishing | n/a | 26,053 | n/a | n/a |
| Computer & Video Games | EMAP Active | 78,485 | 60,104 | -18,381 | -23.4 |
| Dreamcast Magazine | Paragon Publishing | n/a | 41,498 | n/a | n/a |
| Dreamcast Monthly | Quay Magazine Publishing | n/a | 26,973 | n/a | n/a |
| Dreamcast Strategies | Quay Magazine Publishing | n/a | 21,087 | n/a | n/a |
| Edge | Future Publishing | 27,354 | 29,394 | 2,040 | 7.5 |
| Gamesmaster | Future Publishing | 64,565 | 61,106 | -3,459 | -5.4 |
| N64 | Future Publishing | 73,217 | 67,016 | -6,201 | -8.5 |
| N64 Pro | Paragon Publishing | 26,600 | 11,650 | -14,950 | -56.2 |
| Nintendo Official Magazine | EMAP Active | 95,154 | 78,698 | -16,456 | -17.3 |
| Nintendo World | Future Publishing | n/a | 20,761 | n/a | n/a |
| Official Dreamcast Magazine | Dennis Publishing | n/a | 50,653 | n/a | n/a |
| Official Playstation Magazine | Future Publishing | 380,186 | 351,775 | -28,411 | -7.5 |
| PC Gamer | Future Publishing | 68,242 | 83,669 | 15,427 | 22.6 |
| PC Gaming World | Ziff Davis | 41,442 | 45,054 | 3,612 | 8.7 |
| PC Zone | Dennis Publishing | 68,725 | 78,183 | 9,458 | 13.8 |
| Planet PC | Future Publishing | n/a | 20,419 | n/a | n/a |
| Play | Paragon Publishing | 91,750 | 89,614 | -2,136 | -2.3 |
| Playstation Strategies | Quay Magazine Publishing | n/a | 25,425 | n/a | n/a |
| Total | 1,067,986 | 1,231,110 | 163,124 | 15.3 | |
Future Publishing continues to dominate the gaming sector, with a current market share of 54% across the titles shown here.
| Gaming Magazines Market Share By Publishing Company | ||
| Publishing Company | Jul 99-Dec 99 | |
| Dennis Publishing | 128,836 | 10.47 |
| EMAP | 138,802 | 11.27 |
| Future Holdings | 660,193 | 53.63 |
| Paragon Publishing | 184,740 | 15.01 |
| Quay Magazine Publishing | 73,485 | 5.97 |
| Ziff Davis | 45,054 | 3.66 |
| Total | 1,231,110 | 100.00 |
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