ABC Results Jul-Dec 2008:Big circulation increases in gaming sector
Perhaps with the financial downturn forcing more people to spend time indoors it should be no surprise that some gaming magazines enjoyed growing circulation figures in the July to December ABC release.
Uncooked Media’s 360 Gamer grew almost 30% year on year, taking its circulation to 18,000 copies, while Future Publishing’s Playstation Official was up by around 16.5% over the same period to an impressive 53,644 copies.
Also making hay was PSW, with a 10.5% year on year boost in circulation giving it a total figure of more than 24,000 copies.
Looking at mags for Nintendo aficionados, N Gamer‘s circulation increased by around 4.5% year on year to 17,800 copies, while Official Nintendo Magazine remained relatively static over the same period, at just under 59,000 copies.
It was not all good news in the gaming sector, however, with X360 and GamesMaster both losing 20.3% from their totals.
X360 now has a total figure of 26,000, while GamesMaster‘s stands at just under 41,000 copies.
Official Xbox 360 remains ahead of the pack, with a circulation of almost 64,000 copies, although it too was down year on year, by 4.5%.
The two computer magazines in our analysis, both published by Future, had a mixed time of it, with Windows Vista – The Official Magazine falling 20.5% year on year to 22,000 copies, while MacFormat rose 25% to around 29,500 copies.
| Gaming Magazines: Jul-Dec 2008 Year On Year Comparisons | |||||
| Title | Publisher | Jul-Dec 07 | Jul-Dec 08 | Actual Change | % Ch |
| 360 | Imagine Publishing | 13,364 | 12,939 | -425 | -3.2 |
| 360 Gamer | Uncooked Media | 13,928 | 18,073 | 4,145 | 29.8 |
| Edge | Future Publishing | 31,304 | 28,898 | -2,406 | -7.7 |
| GamesMaster | Future Publishing | 51,389 | 40,940 | -10,449 | -20.3 |
| N Gamer | Future Publishing | 17,048 | 17,801 | 753 | 4.4 |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | Future Publishing | 58,754 | 58,795 | 41 | 0.1 |
| Official Xbox 360 | Future Publishing | 66,894 | 63,908 | -2,986 | -4.5 |
| Playstation Official | Future Publishing | 46,018 | 53,644 | 7,626 | 16.6 |
| PSM3 | Future Publishing | 26,885 | 26,202 | -683 | -2.5 |
| PSW (Formerly Playstation World) | Future Publishing | 21,826 | 24,118 | 2,292 | 10.5 |
| X360 | Imagine Publishing | 32,705 | 26,068 | -6,637 | -20.3 |
| Xbox World 360 | Future Publishing | 31,698 | 31,030 | -668 | -2.1 |
| Computing Magazines: Jul-Dec 2008 Year On Year Comparisons | |||||
| Publisher | Jul-Dec 07 | Jul-Dec 08 | Actual Change | % Ch | |
| Windows Vista – The Official Magazine | Future Publishing | 27,711 | 22,017 | -5,694 | -20.5 |
| MacFormat | Future Publishing | 23,550 | 29,447 | 5,897 | 25.0 |
The figures listed in NewsLine’s ABC reports are those reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) as at Thursday 12 Febraury 2009. Late submissions and changes may be made after this date, and will thereafter be amended in MediaTel’s Press database.
ABC: 01442 870 800 www.abc.org.uk