wow-the-magazine
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WoW Magazine calling it quits
After just five issues, the official World of Warcraft Magazine is calling it quits. Future US has posted a notice on the website, and subscribers can either get a refund for the issues they didn't receive, or a voucher for six in-game World of Warcraft pets. Future recommends subscribers who want to keep up with the game in a dead tree format can subscribe to its PC Gamer publication, and it's possible Blizzard may try to publish something itself, though there are apparently no plans for that yet. It's kind of a shame -- the WoW Magazine did offer a lot of solid coverage about the game (and some good looks inside the workings of Blizzard's Irvine, CA campus), but the publication was also torn between its status as an official outlet and a separate press entity. Dan Amrich, the magazine's first editor-in-chief (who left even before the first issue was published, and is now working as an official Activision blogger) recently wrote about some of the troubles he had dealing with Blizzard's licensing department and their control over the magazine. When you combine that with the fact that MMO fans tend to prefer digital over analog, then apparently the whole venture just wasn't worth it. Like we said, shame.
BlizzCon 2010: WoW Magazine issue 3 revealed
I managed to have a quick chat with Andy Salisbury of the World of Warcraft magazine. The big thing, though, is that issue 3 shipped Thursday the 21st. Subscribers will have many articles to look forward to in regards to Cataclysm. Some highlights right after the jump.
World of Warcraft: The Magazine needs a new Editor-in-chief
A few of our readers (thanks, guys!) spotted this posting popping up on the various job boards recently -- Future US, the company publishing the World of Warcraft magazine that's due out any day now, is apparently seeking a new Editor-in-Chief. Say what? They haven't even released the first issue yet, and they're already seeking a new head honcho? We did a little poking around, and it's true -- Dan Amrich, the man who originally held the position, has moved off already to another gig with Activision (though it seems coincidental that he's going to work for Blizzard's parent company), and Future is stuck seeking a new EIC even before issue one releases. Does this mean the magazine is in trouble? True, it can't be good for the captain of a ship to move on just as it's heading out to port, but we've heard everything is still on course -- the first issue of the subscription (that quite a few people have already bought) is under Blizzard's scrutiny right now, and the second issue is well underway. Everything we hear still says they're aiming to release it sometime this month, but obviously if we hear anything else, we'll let you know. In the meantime, if you're in San Francisco, have a few years' publishing experience, and know a whole lot about World of Warcraft, we have this job you might want...
World of Warcraft: The Magazine, coming soon
In a rather surprising turn of events, Blizzard has announced that they're teaming up with publishing group Future to print a quarterly magazine about, you guessed it, World of Warcraft. For the yearly subscription price of $39.95 USD, readers will receive four issues of the ad-free WoW magazine, including concept art, hints and sneak peeks at upcoming content patches and expansions, interviews with developers, strategies for raid and dungeon encounters, and more "insider and player perspectives". The issues are stated to be more than 140 pages long and glossy as heck. It's admittedly rather shocking that a magazine like this is getting published -- not because of content or anything like that, but because print is considered a flagging medium. The formula for success here seems to be to offer a high-end product -- Future says they consider it more of a "collectible coffee-table book" than a magazine -- and sustain it on subscriptions alone, since it'll be free of advertising. Hopefully legions of fans will subscribe and give the 'zine its lifeblood, since it actually sounds pretty cool to me. The first issue is scheduled to go to press at an as-yet-unknown date this fall, and is supposed to contain interviews with top guilds about Ulduar strategies, a retrospective on WoW for its fifth anniversary, and unnamed other content.Those wishing to subscribe can visit the magazine's official website on August 21st -- that's BlizzCon day one -- and enter their info there, or visit the WoW Magazine booth at the 'Con itself.
