Magazine ABCs show a games press in decline
But Moshi Monsters magazine on the rise, hitting 163,000 readers
Circulation numbers are down across the board for the games press in the latest ABC figures for consumer print magazines during 2011.
Future Publishing's Edge magazine saw sales fall from 28,051 in 2010 to 24,443 in 2011, while the official magazines also saw significant readership losses.
PlayStation Official now stands at 38,262, down from 46,012, while Official Nintendo Magazine is at 36,197, a drop from 45,015. Official Xbox 360 Magazine fared better, with a smaller decrease, from 60,859 to 58,610.
Future's other unofficial titles did nothing to buck the downward trend, with PSM 3 seeing the largest slide, down to just 16,815 from 20,640. The very recently revamped N Gamer fell to 7,745 from 10,589 and Xbox World 360 from 23,061 to 20,738. Games Master dropped to 23,313 from 28,003.
PC Gamer held comparatively steady, falling to 23,652 from 25,019.
Future, a company recently beset by cuts and job losses, is expected to comment on the falling figures later today.
It was a similar story at Imagine, where 360 Magazine actually fell to below 10,000 readers, with a figure of just 9,335, compared to 2010's 11,183.
Games TM was at 15,066, down from 18,025, X360 fell from 24,090 to 20,695 and Play down to 15,693 after a larger drop from 21,735.
Uncooked Media's 360 Gamer went down from 15,325 to 13,124.
The only success was the Moshi Monsters tie in magazine, which saw an average of 162,838 sales per issue for the period between July 1 and December 31 in 2011. Its April 1 to June 30 figure was 113,748.