Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Returns; Future Cements Official Gaming Magazine Monopoly

Future US, publisher of special interest magazines such as Pregnancy, has teamed with Sony Computer Entertainment America to produce an officially-branded PlayStation magazine. Rival publisher Ziff Davis ceased its work on the demo disc-packing Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine earlier this year. Known as PlayStation: The Official Magazine, the Future US-published outing will be helmed by Rob Smith, former editor in chief of the also Future-published PSM--Independent PlayStation Magazine. The first issue of PTOM, the Holiday 2007 special, will appear in late November, with an initial circulation run of 300,000 copies. In all, there will be 13 issues of the magazine published yearly--presumably 12 monthly issues and a holiday special. There is no word yet if the magazine will come packaged with a demo disc. With Future US handling Nintendo Power and Official Xbox Magazine, the company, which also owns online gaming site GamesRadar, now maintains a veritable monopoly in the realm of console manufacturer-sanctioned gaming magazines. Parent company Future Publishing likewise holds the rights for the official UK publications of all three manufacturers, and publishes PC Gamer in both the US and UK as well.