Ziff closes US Games for Windows mag, says EGM may be next

Ziff Davis has closed the official Games for Windows magazine in the US. Most of the publication's staff will be moved onto 1UP.

The magazine has been running for the past 27 years, apparently, so if this isn't a sign of the times we don't know what is. Games for Windows recently got the print exclusive on The Sims 3 - which was rather obviously rewritten for the internet in about 12 seconds flat - and started life as Computer Gaming World.

1UP network VP Simon Cox told Next-Gen, "The newsstand was a very challenging space for us. It was a tough place to be," he said. "And then you have the marketers who want to advertise in print, but they don't put the budgets behind it that they used to, and they tend to be moving towards online. Wrap those things up, and it's not a pretty picture from a business perspective."

Cox went on to hint that the future may even affect that bastion of American games in print, EGM.

"The prognosis for [Electronic Gaming Monthly] is good, but ultimately, of course, that could change," he said. "We're all realists here. We all know that ultimately, online is probably going to be where most people are going to get their information. We're not at that point yet, and there is still a place for EGM until we get there."