Long-running UK multiformat video game magazines GamesMaster and GamesTM will cease publication next month, owner Future Publishing has announced.
One final issue of both highly-respected publications will be released next month, after which current staff members will be redeployed to other areas within parent company Future.
An Extremely Difficult Decision
The news was broken earlier this morning on Gamesindustry.biz, complete with a quote from a spokesperson at Future Publishing explaining the reasoning behind the company’s decision.
“Despite the company’s strong performance overall, unfortunately GamesTM 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.”
Given the slow and steady decline of print journalism as a whole, today’s news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Nevertheless, it’s still a sad day for the industry as we say goodbye to two of its most popular publications.
GamesMaster Says Goodbye After 25 Years of Expert Coverage
Running since 2002, GamesTM was initially owned by Imagine Publishing, before being bought by Future only a couple of years ago in 2016. While its sister publication, GamesMaster, has an even more storied history.
Having debuted way back in 1993 as a tie-in magazine for the television programme of the same name – you remember, the one best known for featuring the inimitable Sir Patrick Moore (who sadly passed away in 2012) in the role of ‘Games Master’? – GamesMaster has continued to provide expert coverage for a quarter of a century.
Both will be sorely missed.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz