Develop Magazine 2.0

Wednesday 28th February/... Develop, the leading international game development publication, today unveils its dramatic new redesign, which reasserts its position as the magazine at the heart of the games industry's creative community.

Innovative fresh additions to the only magazine written by, for and about games developers, include an exclusive new monthly developer sales chart compiled by ChartTrack/ELSPA, an uplift in technical features, opinion and analysis, and a radical redesign which replicates the entire development process.

Develop Magazine has been published by Intent Media since 2000. Since then, it has revolutionised the way a trade publication integrates itself with its readership. In addition to its unrivalled reporting, insight and opinion into the world of games development, the magazine hosts the annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards, publishes the yearly 'Develop 100' report ranking the world's most commercially successful games studios, and has affiliated itself with the Develop Conference and Expo in Brighton. Its circulation extends as far as the UK, Europe, Australia, USA, Canada, China, Korea and Japan, giving it a truly global audience.

Highlights from this month's issue include a cover feature looking at the future of facial animation, an exclusive essay discussing how Web 2.0 can influence the future of games development, and a lead technical feature written by Nvidia technicians which examines real-time volumetric smoke rendering, based on their experiences working on Flagship's Hellgate: London.

The magazine's design now accurately reflects the stages of game development. The 'Alpha' news section focuses on the biggest development stories from around the world, and includes opinion pieces and reports from those working on the front lines of games development.

'Build' introduces a brand new section dedicated to the tools, technology and production processes behind video games, backed by the highly-regarded 'Master' tutorials.

Rebranded 'Beta', the features section continues to address the biggest issues and topics facing games development, and carries interviews and essays from the leading people in the field.

In addition, the Develop Directory remains the only industry marketplace for studios, tools providers, service companies and courses.

"The new Develop Magazine published today is the result of an extensive relaunch and rebranding exercise which began in August 2006," says Michael French, editor, Develop Magazine. "We've always taken pride not just in reporting on the games development industry, but being a core part of it, too - no other development publication boasts such a pool of authoritative, knowledgeable and passionate individuals who continue to operate at the heart of the business. The redesign isn't just a fresh lick of paint - it's a radical reimagining of a trade publication, which will continue to position us as the leading magazine in our sector."

"We've invested a huge amount in this relaunch," adds Stuart Dinsey, managing director, Intent Media. "The magazine continues to go from strength to strength, but rather than sitting back and being complacent, we want to evolve with the times. As the development community meets the demands of next-generation game production, so we offer the next-generation in trade publications - a magazine by the business, for the business."

The relaunch will be hitting subscribers' desks from today. A free PDF of issue 70, the first to boast the new look, can be downloaded from www.developmag.com. Free trial subscriptions are available to any games development professional working in the industry - email dev.subscriptions@c-cms.com to find out more.

The magazine's website is scheduled for a similar revamp over the next couple of months.