GamesTM and GamesMaster to close

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Jazzem
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PostGamesTM and GamesMaster to close
by Jazzem » Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:47 am

Video games media specialists Future will close two of its multiformat magazines.

GamesTM and GamesMaster are producing their final issues. Staff who worked on these publications are being 'redeployed' within the company.

GamesMaster has been running for 25 years and say it's 'the UK's biggest multiformat magazine'. GamesTM is also a multiformat product and has been running since 2002. It was originally owned by Imagine Publishing, but the entire Imagine portfolo was acquired by Future in 2016.

"Despite the company's strong performance overall, unfortunately games™ and GamesMaster are no longer profitable parts of the business, which means that their next issues, on sale November 1st, will be the final editions," Future said in a statement.

"The decision was an extremely difficult one, but everyone here is enormously proud of what the magazines have achieved in their lifetimes - an incredible 25 years in GamesMaster's case - and we are currently redeploying affected staff within the company."

Future still operates the popular multiformat consumer magazine Edge, as well as the Official Xbox and PlayStation publications, PC Gamer, Retro Gamer and MCV. Plus a number of websites, including Gamesradar.


https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ ... r-to-close

Ah man :(

Hadn't read either in years but both were keen favourites way back when, I especially appreciated the Retro section of GamesTM

Last edited by Jazzem on Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Cheeky Devlin
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Cheeky Devlin » Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:51 am

I was thinking just a few days ago about how dire the Games magazine scene has become. I'd been looking for this months Retro Gamer in WHSmiths and they didn't have any. All they had was EDGE, PC Gamer, a handful of Retro book-azines and about 5 different titles based entirely around Fortnite.

There was such a huge selection of different titles when I was a kid but the Internet has utterly destroyed the market. It's a shame.

Plus the writing was on the wall for GamesTM as soon as Future bought it. Sad to see GamesMaster go as well and I still remember the early issues when it first launched. Good times.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Godzilla » Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:58 am

I still remember buying gamesmaster issue 1 and keeping it going for ages.

Mortal Kombat 2 issue and the reveal of certain games. They did One amazing covers like Chaos Engine and 90s Amiga inspired artwork.

I'll miss games master as like cvg at a time it was very important to me.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:02 pm

You kinda knew the writing was on the wall, especially as they had both dropped their ABC auditing, but I’m surprised they’re both closing. Future were claiming some eyebrow raising readership figures on their website a while ago.

A lot of history there with GamesMaster, but what’s a real shame is there is now no mass market multiformat magazine left at all, therefore no presence for Nintendo whatsoever.

You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if OPM is the last one left standing.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Gemini73 » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:02 pm

Used to subscribe to gamestm. Haven't bought it for years though. Little point in gaming mags with the interwebs at ones fingertips.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:13 pm

If you look at GamesMaster a lot of their issues this year have been themed covers (Mario’s Greatest Hits, The Horror issue, The Shooter Special, 51 Greatest Games of 2018 etc) rather than focused on just the one game.

That’s changed this month though as it’s Resident Evil 2.

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more heat than light
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by more heat than light » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:15 pm

I'm not surprised about GamesTM as it operates in the same space as Edge but with a smaller readership. I guess they're just expecting folk to migrate over. Gamesmaster though, surely there's nothing in that area around at the moment? That seems unusual to me.

Either way, sad times all around. Sympathies to those people out of a job.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by kazanova_Frankenstein » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:21 pm

Sad news but not unexpected I guess. I used to buy Gamestm just about month (albeit before the internet was such a solid source of info), and although Gamesmaster magazine was never one of my favourites, I did use to appreciate "Dominik's Big Purple Column" and the general infantile humour it had in it's formative years.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:22 pm

Now imagine a GamesMaster website with that archive. Gaming magazines: the most prepared and yet ill prepared for the online revolution.

I’d happily set up a website with this stuff but I’d probably end up getting sued by everybody.

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Cheeky Devlin
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Cheeky Devlin » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:37 pm

Kind of unrelated, but if they have any related Forums that are going to close as well it might be worth sending over a wee delegation before they scatter to the winds. Or worse, move to Resetera. :slol:

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Venom
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Venom » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:38 pm

It's always sad when magazines close, but the public get their gaming news & conversation content differently now. Games Master launched as a tie-in with the TV series and has done brilliantly to last so long.


KK wrote:Now imagine a GamesMaster website with that archive. Gaming magazines: the most prepared and yet ill prepared for the online revolution.

I’d happily set up a website with this stuff but I’d probably end up getting sued by everybody.



I know some people have digitised old copies of The One and Ace Magazine. PDF files are unlikely to have any ability to make money for the companies, better for the owners of these mags to make official digital copies for reference as they are a part of gaming history. (I think Games TM did use to do that themselves and sell them as a bundle on a disc.)

KK you could email them and ask if they have plans to preserve the magazines, and if they don't will they give you permission?

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by OrangeRKN » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:41 pm

Gonna miss GamesTM :( Only bought the odd issue but it was a great magazine, pitched at the same level as Edge with slightly less self-importance.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Kind of unrelated, but if they have any related Forums that are going to close as well it might be worth sending over a wee delegation before they scatter to the winds. Or worse, move to Resetera. :slol:


Great shout, I'll try and have a look

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by speedboatchase » Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:46 pm

I have digital subscriptions to Retro Gamer and Edge - really hope they can hang on. They are no online replacements for their level of content.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by Drumstick » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:02 pm

strawberry floating Future.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:05 pm

This month's issue:

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I was thinking only yesterday what Retro Gamer/OPM are going to do to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation Classic. Who knows, maybe they'll bring back PlayStation Power or the original design for OPM...

Sometimes they were a bit condescending to their readers (OPM at its peak had a tendency to do this) but one of the best things was the relationship so many magazines had with their audience. I bet if you ask those that read N64, NGC, PC Zone, PSM2...that's one of the things they'll remember most. Online it's definitely become more negative. The amount of stuff in 90s/early 00s magazines that would also offend these days is ridiculous. If you go back to the Charlie Brooker era of PC Zone you'd have a field day.

Venom wrote:KK you could email them and ask if they have plans to preserve the magazines, and if they don't will they give you permission?

Magazine publishers would only be the start of the potential issues (that's if they're still around), you'd have to ask each writer depending on if they still own that work - or whatever the contract was - and if they'd be happy having it republished properly on a website (that's if you even knew who wrote it). I think there are websites that already have scans uploaded, but it'd be nice if there was an actual website where everything was written up, alongside those scans for those who wanted to experience how it looked originally.

You look at DailyRadar/GamesRadar/C&VG. As that morphed into its current Gamesradar+ form, all the reviews that were previously uploaded from the 90s/00s were binned. Gamespot, IGN and Eurogamer still have theirs in place, but its extremely limited.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:26 pm

Looking back to May of this year, Future were claiming to advertisers via the website the following circulation figures...

RetroGamer: 26,120
GamesMaster: 19,000
GamesTM: 28,928 (readership; circulation undisclosed)

How they got to those numbers though is a mystery. Neither mag would be dead on those numbers. Because if they're not turning a profit on those figures, then they're definitely not making money on EDGE, PC Gamer or OXM either.

Based on sales, PC Gamer, EDGE and Xbox: The Official Magazine will be next to go in that order. But you may keep EDGE irrespective of its performance (to a point) because it's, well, EDGE. OPM has about 10,000 readers still to play with before it reaches the others.

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by NickSCFC » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:58 pm

Gutted to see GamesMaster go, I used to read that back in the mid 90s though I'm as guilty as anyone for no longer buying it.

I believe EDGE sells internationally so that should be safe for years to come, I also think GamesMaster and GamesTM were closed to eliminate competition for EDGE.

RIP

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Last edited by NickSCFC on Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to Close
by NickSCFC » Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:18 pm

KK wrote:You kinda knew the writing was on the wall, especially as they had both dropped their ABC auditing, but I’m surprised they’re both closing. Future were claiming some eyebrow raising readership figures on their website a while ago.

A lot of history there with GamesMaster, but what’s a real shame is there is now no mass market multiformat magazine left at all, therefore no presence for Nintendo whatsoever.

You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if OPM is the last one left standing.


Both the TV show and now the magazine is gone, I'd love it if their final issue covered 25 years worth of stuff, but I doubt it.

As for OPM, it seems to be the only one getting comparatively healthy sales, providing Sony don't both the PS5 launch it's got a few more years left in it.

December 2017 figures

Playstation Official Magazine: 25,190 (down from 28,120)
Official Xbox Magazine: 16,421 (down from 20,837)
PC Gamer: 15,259 (down from 17,624)
Games Master: NO LONGER REGISTERED (12,849 during last audit in 2014)
EDGE: NO LONGER REGISTERED (18,082 during last audit in 2014)
GamesTM: NO LONGER REGISTERED (12,608 during last audit in 2014)

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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to close
by KK » Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:38 pm

Will be interesting to see what they’ve got lined up for the final issue, and how big the retrospective will be. Maybe they’ll get past editors back (Robin Alway and Matthew Pellett when I read it).

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jawafour
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PostRe: GamesTM and GamesMaster to close
by jawafour » Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:42 pm

I'm genuinely sad to see these two mags closing down. I bought, and still have, every issue of gamesTM from 1 through about 128.

I've written more than enough about the decline of gaming mags in the past so I'm not gonna go into too much depth here. Suffice to say that I'm disappointed that game mag publishers have been unable to offer a format that embraces the internet whilst still putting great stuff into a paper format. Future were superb many years ago but they've never been able to successfully implement such an approach.

I still subscribe to Official PlayStation and pick up most Retro Gamers, though.


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