US Official PlayStation Magazine to close
Sony has confirmed that it plans to focus on digital distribution of content after Ziff Davis Game Group, the publisher of US Official PlayStation Magazine, announced that the title is to close.
Sony has confirmed that it plans to focus on digital distribution of content after Ziff Davis Game Group, the publisher of US Official PlayStation Magazine, announced that the title is to close.
"The Game Group is laser-focused on continuing to expand its rapidly growing digital media presence and on further strengthening its multiplatform properties and powerful integrated network," the company said in a statement.
"As such, the Game Group has determined that Official US PlayStation Magazine, a property licensed from Sony Computer Entertainment America and limited to print, no longer fits its strategic vision."
US OPM, which is licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America, will close following the January 2007 issue. SCEA's VP of marketing, Peter Dille, commented, "We are focused on delivering content via the PlayStation Network and PlayStation.com website, not discs.
"While we have enjoyed a very good run with the printed version of Official US PlayStation Magazine, we feel it is important to shift assets online to meet the needs of today's PlayStation consumer. This is a natural evolution of our content delivery strategy."
Ziff Davis president Scott McCarthy added that the PS3's online capabilities and increasing broadband penetration will allow for much more efficient distribution of content in the future.
"With this next generation of game consoles, the days of having to bundle a disc with a magazine to distribute games-related content are over," he explained.
"And the disc has clearly been a major driver for consumer interest in premium-priced, platform-specific magazines in the past, when the magazine disc was the only way gamers could get such content."