19 Feb 2001 |

Gaming Titles Suffer Further Decline

Gaming magazines continue to suffer declining sales according to the latest audit from the ABC, with all but one title in the sector falling in a year on year analysis. Official Dreamcast Magazine from Dennis Publishing was the only title to increase its circulation over the period, adding 3% to its circulation base.

The worst performing title was Planet Playstation, down 48%, a decline which marks the general trend of Playstation magazines, which suffered badly during the period. However, Future’s newly launched Official Playstation 2 Magazine showed a positive start with a high first time audit figure of 81,883, despite the distribution problems of the console itself.

Other new gaming titles auditing for the first time were not so impressive. Dreamcast Solutions, started with a circulation base of 11,422, and Gameboy Power at took 10,043 sales. Other new titles, PSM2 with a circulation of 52,439 and Games Domain Offline at 78,950*, on the other hand have produced some of the overall highest figures in this field.

*Audit Period from Oct-Dec 00

Gaming Magazines Jul-Dec 2000 ABC YoY Comparisons
Title	Publisher	Jul 99-Dec 99	Jul 00-Dec 00	Actual change	% Change
64 Magazine	Paragon	25,045	14,945	-10,100	-40.3
Computer & Video Games	Emap Active	60,104	45,606	-14,498	-24.1
DC-UK	Future Publishing	28,857	17,162	-11,695	-40.5
Dreamcast Magazine	Paragon	41,498	22,970	-18,528	-44.6
Dreamcast Solutions	Paragon	n/a	11,422	n/a	n/a
Gameboy Power	Quay Magazine Publishing	n/a	10,043	n/a	n/a
Games Domain Offline*	Kaleidoscope	n/a	78,950	n/a	n/a
Gamesmaster	Future Publishing	61,106	44,848	-16,258	-26.6
N64	Future Publishing	67,016	43,285	-23,731	-35.4
Nintendo Official Magazine	Emap Active	78,698	67,615	11,083	-14.1
Official Dreamcast Magazine	Dennis	50,653	52,157	1,504	3.0
Official Playstation 2 Magazine	Future Publishing	n/a	81,883	n/a	n/a
Official Playstation Magazine	Future Publishing	351,775	215,508	-136,267	-38.7
PC Gamer	Future Publishing	83,669	73,549	-10,120	-12.1
Planet Playstation	Paragon	49,499	25,845	-23,654	-47.8
Play	Paragon	89,614	66,174	-23,440	-26.2
Playstation Max	Future Publishing	50,425	37,545	-12,880	-25.5
Playstation Power	Future Publishing	81,079	50,963	-30,116	-37.1
Playstation World	Computec Media UK	n/a	62,946	n/a	n/a
PowerStation	Paragon	46,810	41,854	-4,956	-10.6
PSM2	Future Publishing	n/a	52,439	n/a	n/a
Total		1,165,848	1,117,709	-48,139	-4.13
*Audit Period Oct 00 – Dec 00

On the publishing front, Future Publishing retains its strong hold on the market; its titles make up 55.2% of total circulations for this sector. Trailing behind in second place is Paragon, with a 16.4% share.

Gaming Magazines Market Share By Publishing Company
Publishing Company	Jul 00-Dec 00
Computec Media	62,946	5.6
Dennis Publishing	52,157	4.7
Emap	113,221	10.1
Kaleidoscope	78,950	7.1
Paragon Publishing	183,210	16.4
Quay Magazine Publishing	10,043	0.9
Future Publishing	617,182	55.2
Total	1,117,709	100.00