Future Wins Official XP Magazine Licence

Future has secured its ongoing relationship with Microsoft by winning the contract to publish the only Windows publication to be officially licensed by the software manufacturers. The launch, Future’s biggest computer magazine for three years, will be backed with a £750,000 promotional spend, covering point-of-sale promotions, covermounts and packaging.

The agreement for Future to produce Microsoft Windows XP: The Official Magazine came after the success of a series of officially licensed one-shots. Scott Lynch, news and magazine buyer for WHSmith commented: “Issue 3 [of the one-shots series] proved how successful the magazine will be, becoming our best selling computing monthly in January. We believe this magazine will give the whole computing sector a boost by introducing a title capable of talking only to new and high end PC users.”

The last set of ABC results indicated that the computer and gaming sector could do with the boost Lynch mentions. Most titles in the computing sector saw year on year falls in circulation, as did around half in the gaming sector:

The first monthly edition of the magazine will go on sale on 28 March. Each issue is covermounted with either two CDs (priced at £5.99) or one DVD (£6.49), containing Windows XP programs and games demos. The format will follow that established in the one-shot issues, with coverage of high specification and brand new PCs but not legacy systems, along with game and DVD reviews, Windows XP specific tutorials and hardware and software reviews.

Future Publishing: 01225 442 244 www.futurenet.com

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