World of Warcraft jumps into print
You might think that starting a brand-new, high-quality, full-glossy magazine in one of the worst publishing environments in years would be a suicidal business idea. After all, take a look at just about any magazine you can think of, and, thanks to the veritable collapse of advertising, odds are it's about as thin as can be.
But to the folks at Future--a leading games media publisher--the time couldn't be better to launch World of Warcraft: The Magazine, a new quarterly title that is expected to be unveiled at this weekend's BlizzCon event--the world's biggest World of Warcraft fanfest--in Anaheim, Calif. The magazine will be the "official" WoW magazine, and is both endorsed by and produced with the editorial cooperation of WoW publisher Activision Blizzard.
And, indeed, the timing for the forthcoming magazine is clever: The first issue is planned for sometime this fall, just as WoW celebrates its fifth anniversary. And with an astounding 11.5 million players of the game now spread out around the world, Future is hoping that by promising potential readers stunning artwork, behind-the-scenes looks at ongoing development, deep dives into the game's lore, and perhaps even occasional scoops about new features or other WoW elements, it will offer fans an invaluable experience. In fact, Future sees this magazine as something along the lines of a collectible coffee table book.
Still, Future has chosen a difficult business model for the new publication. Each issue is expected to be 148 pages long, with precisely zero ads, which means that the title is shut off from traditional magazine revenues, and therefore will rely entirely on subscription fees. On the other hand, that same dynamic also means that it should be shielded from the vagaries of the advertising market, something that is currently taking down one magazine after another.
According to Future, World of Warcraft: The magazine will be offered for subscription only--no single copy sales--with U.S. readers paying $40 annually, those in continental Europe 35 euros and the British 30 pounds. The magazine will be published in English, French, German, and Spanish.
"The magazine market is suffering a rough time," said John Gower, the international director of FuturePlus, the title's publisher, "but only those magazines that are based on advertising models. We've seen our magazines increasing across the board, especially the hobbyist" titles.
That may be true, but in order to support what the publishers say will be a costly blend of commissioned art, in-depth articles written by veteran journalists and behind-the-scenes access, Future will have to convince a great deal of its players that it's worth their while to pony up $40 on top of their $15 monthly game subscription fees, even as those same players can find an enormous amount of WoW-related information online.
And that proposition is clearly not for everyone, even some of the most passionate WoW players.
"It's not for me," said Katrina Glerum, a former game company executive and a longtime WoW fan. "I don't feel like I'm starved for external WoW information...I can't get out of the game as it is because I'm playing. I get in trouble with my guild mates for not (reading enough information about the game)."
But for some players, the promise of beautiful game-related art is clearly a lure. One of the most compelling features of WoW, to many players, is its "fantastic" art, said Ron Meiners, a social media expert and WoW devotee. And that's especially true, he added, "in the context of a heroic role-playing game (where) the visuals really make the experience come alive for the player (and) make the fantasy that much more tangible."
For his part, Meiners said he would most likely not subscribe to the magazine, but that he expected that if it turns out to be as beautiful and well-produced as Future is claiming it will be, and has some of the behind-the-scenes information about WoW that Blizzard often keeps very much under wraps, it "will be well received, I should think."
The first issue
According to Dan Amrich, the new magazine's editor-in-chief, finding a stable of polished writers who are also passionate about WoW hasn't been a problem. And many of the title's staff are also WoW players.
"It would be foolish not to have people on staff who understand" the game's lore, Amrich said. One writer, based in England, is a leader of an 800-person WoW guild, he added.
Because the first issue will coincide with the game's fifth anniversary, Amrich said that it will feature a retrospective of the previous five years in the game's development and growth, with a special focus on some of the more famous events in WoW's lore, as well as recaps of how fans reacted to those events.
The issue will be looking at "how the game has evolved socially and culturally, as well as technically," he said.
And Gower said that Future has worked with Blizzard and commissioned one of the best-known WoW artists "for a piece of art never seen before."
Added Gower, "I think WoW enthusiasts are going to go crazy for this."
Ultimately, Future clearly sees the magazine as both a regular source of information and lore, as well as high-quality artwork, and as a long-term collector's piece.
And it's that last element, the fact that there are countless WoW players that are addicted to the many game forums, blogs and other sources of information, that may well lead to the title's success, suggested Glerum.
"I think there's an audience," Glerum said. "It's the collectors--the people who have to know everything."
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel. 
...but in the end at least I don't have to buy a copy for me wife where do I sign up?
Ultimately, however, whether this works will depend on the price that is charged and the quality of the articles.
WOW=Cash cow. WOW probably accounts for 75% or more of PC game money.
(http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/VideoGameSalesOvertakingMusic.aspx)
The biggest knock on gaming magazines of any sort is that they're not current and that everything put in print will have been online for much much longer. As someone who spent two and a half years playing WoW I know this to be true. The internet beats every other medium when it comes to breaking new information. So how can a magazine devoted to world's largest mmo survive by subscription only, no newsstand/bookstore sales? Because it's devoted to world's largest mmo! Boasting over 11 million subscribers, if Future is able to snare even a fraction of them it will be a successful effort.
Will people really pay $40 for a year subscription though when they could find much of the same online free? I think enough people will which is all that matters. That it has Blizzard's stamp of approval is a bonus that will translate into almost instant sales and another reason that it will more than likely succeed? Casual players! Anyone who has been playing the game awhile know that Blizzard has been busily changing things around to make the game more accessible to the masses much to the chagrin of hardcore players.
The gaming industry as a whole seems more interested than ever in casual players which may be more to the credit (or blame) of the Wii's popularity. So, this magazine will be aimed at joe average player who doesn't know that they could find all the same info online for free, aimed at those who don't want or have time to research x number of websites to find the best ways to tweak their character, learn that boss fight etc. Plenty of people fit that dynamic and they will pay in the same way that people buy in-game gold, characters/TCG items off eBay and in Sony's case in-game items of all kinds for real world cash. Blizzard is just shy of printing its own money with the success of World of Warcraft and there's profit to be made on pretty much anything they officially endorse. What I wonder is how this mag will impact coverage from other gaming titles like Massive Online Gamer.
The only way i could see it sticking around is if they accept it as a money loss and fund it with profits from the game, then justify the cost by saying the magazine could draw in more game players. I read an article once where a Blizzard rep said the ongoing monthly cost of running the game in the long term were paid up and then some within the first year or two of operation so they have the money to lose, at least for now.
See current streaming of blizzcon cash cow.....
Blizz will sell this thing and easily create another revenue stream, just wait and see.
http://www.eveonline.com/eon/
EVE ingame corporations/alliance pay for the ads w/ ingame cash(ISK)
Just what is this ridiculous love affair with printed material?
- by NervClaX August 21, 2009 6:55 AM PDT
- They have something close to 10 Million active accounts. That's a pretty large fan-base for any game, but when even more general video game magazines can no longer afford the paper they used to be printed on, what sense does it make to limit yourself to one specific game? Why not make it Blizzard Magazine? Cover all Blizzard games in depth. There are going to be a lot of people eager to read all they can about Starcraft II when it arrives.
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(21 Comments)This magazine won't only be available in English, will it? I think they might get even better circulation in China and Korea where people want to spend their Internet Cafe time playing the games. Then they can read when they're offline. Here in the West, most people play on their home computer.