Circulations slide for majority of Future games magazines
Only PlayStation titles gain readership in 2008
The majority of videogame magazines from Future Publishing suffered a drop in circulation during 2008, with only two PlayStation publications increasing in numbers.
Circulation for flagship multiformat title Edge dropped to 28,898 for the year ended December 2008, according to ABC, down from 31,304 copies the prior year.
GamesMaster, Future's only other magazine covering all gaming formats, was hit with a bigger drop in readership – from 51,389 in 2007, to 40,940 last year.
The highlights were the PlayStation Official Magazine which saw readership increase to 53,644, compared to 46,018 the prior year, and unofficial PlayStation magazine PSW, which grew readership from 21,826, to 24,118.
The Official Nintendo Magazine grew marginally, from 58,754 to 58,795 readers.
Future's other endorsed title – Official Xbox 360 Magazine – saw circulation decline from 66,894 in 2007, to 63,908 last year. Xbox World 360 sales slipped from 31,698 to 31,030.
Readership for PSM 3 dropped from 26,885 to 26,202.
PC Gamer is Future's most successful PC games magazine, with 32,619, although this is down from 38,654. PC Zone has slipped to 19,023 readers, down from 22,297, while PC Format recorded a circulation of 18,003.