Hard pressed
The move from the Sony PlayStation to the PlayStation 2 has, not surprisingly, hit sales of PlayStation magazines, with sales of Future's official title falling from 300,459 to 215,508 a month. But in what looks like a more general downturn, sales of many other games magazines have also fallen, leading to changes in the industry.
Future Publishing, a huge success over the past two decades, is closing six magazines in the UK and six in the US, and others may be sold. Five websites will also be closed. The company expects to shed up to 350 of its 2,000 staff, with about 90 UK staff to be made redundant.
Emap has gone further and sold all but one of its games magazines to Dennis Publishing, which publishes PC Zone and PC Pro. Emap's titles included CVG, which enjoyed a rise in circulation from 43,509 to 45,606. However, in its heyday as Computer & Video Games, it sold more than 100,000 a month.
But in this market, magazines rise and fall with the popularity of consoles and computers. On the upside, Future's Official PlayStation 2 had an audited circulation of 81,883. It will also be publishing the official Xbox magazine.
Dream on
Sega may be getting out of the console hardware business, but it is still keen to increase the Dreamcast's user base. The company has just cut the price of is machine, launched at £300, to £99.99, and will release some of its best- selling titles in a budget range. The last price cut, from £200 to £150, was last September.
In the pipeline
Codemasters plans to launch LMA Manager 2001, its latest football management game, for the Sony PlayStation, on March 9.
As well as offering updated stats, the new version lets players manage Scottish league clubs too.
Rage hopes to make a splash with Hostile Waters, which is due on March 30. The game has taken four years to create and includes a cast of Tom Baker (Dr Who), Paul Darrow (Blake's 7) and Glynis Barber (Dempsey and Makepeace). See www.rage.com/hostile
Peter Molyneux's long-overdue game, Black & White, is finally scheduled to appear on April 6. There is a "massive world exclusive review" in the March issue of PC Zone, which claims it will be out mid/late February, but believe it when you see it.
