Publisher Future has teamed up with WoW developer Blizzard Entertainment for quarterly title World of Warcraft: The Magazine.

Available in English, French, German and Spanish, the publication is sold via subscription only through World of Warcraft Account Management or from the mag’s official site.

The magazine is available as a one or two-year subscription, pricing for one year is $US39.95, 34.95 EUR or 29.95 GBP depending on your region — two year subscription packages cost $US69.95 in the US, 61.25 EUR or 52.50 GBP.

“Future produces some of the most respected gaming magazines in the industry, and we’re pleased to be working closely with them to make World of Warcraft: The Magazine a true standout product,” says Blizzard COO Paul Sams. “Together, we look forward to offering World of Warcraft players a great mix of entertaining and insightful content in every issue.”

The 148-page first issue will cover the fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft.

Other Future publications include T3, Total Film, Digital Camera, Fast Car, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Nintendo Power, Maximum PC and MacLife.

No question that print media is dying. Only question is how long it’ll hold out. In the interests of keeping tabs on things, then, let’s take a look at Future Publishing’s latest British circulation numbers.

With the demise of Ziff Davis’ print empire in the US, Future are now top dog in the world of video game magazine publishing, so a look at Future’s fortunes is as good a look as any if you’re looking at determining the overall health of the business.

And going by the company’s latest circulation figures, business isn’t looking too great. Despite an increase in readership for some of the stable’s PlayStation magazines, and a maintenance of Nintendo mag figures, all other mags – most notable among them Edge – are down.

* Edge – 31,304 to 28,898
* GamesMaster – 51,389 to 40,940
* OPM – 46,018 to 53,644
* PSW – 21,826 to 24,118
* ONM – 58,754 to 58,795
* OXM – 66,894 to 63,908
* Xbox World 360 – 31,698 to 31,030
* PSM3 – 26,885 to 26,202
* PC Gamer – 38,654 to 32,619
* PC Zone – 22,297 to 19,023

Most Future mags saw circulation drops last year [VG247]

They’re all good reads — here’s one sample from Write the Game:

Families will have more in common, sharing triumphs and losses in video games. Kids will play with their parents, and everyone will have fun.

Conversely, many parents will stick their children in front of a PS3 to shut them up, whilst kids will find an easily accessible fantasy world in which to drown their fledgling identities.

Like everything else, a balance will have to be struck. Commercialism and arty experimentation will both clash with and compliment each other. Private joys will have to be placed against the thrill of being part of a well-oiled team. Mass victory will be accompanied by sessions of the blame-game.

There is one thing we can be sure of – it won’t be boring.

The entries range from standard musings to dystopian visions of the future; the monthly entries for Blogs of the Roundtable are always worth keeping an eye on, especially as they tend to trickle in over the course of the month.

The Ghost Of Gaming Future [Write the Game via Blogs of the Roundtable/Man Bytes Blog]

“Content is king.” Well, there’s about to be a revolution and some regicide. The consumers of tomorrow want content for free. And they will make their own content. That is potentially more fun and more interesting than consuming carefully planned, carefully made, well-mannered content from a professional. Films and TV are already at that point where they are consumed and remixed freely by consumers. Music was there long ago. Games will be there soon.

The content of the future will be in tools. Tools like the ones shipped with Little Big Planet (although I suspect it’s still too early for that game to start a true paradigm shift.) Tools that will let consumers engage directly with the content.

Actually, this is the tipping point when “consumers” become “users”. Consumers are passive. Users, active

Quick and worth a read — it’s certainly a lot more to the point than some of the longer pieces on the same topics.

The Futures of Entertainment [game girl advance]

Content Producer – Official PlayStation Magazine HD – Bath [Future, thanks Matt!]

Tipster Nick spotted this Associate Publisher position in “Inner Sydney” and was kind enough to pass it on.

Recently, Derwent Howard had its licensing agreement for Future’s magazines revoked, and it looked fairly certain that the UK publisher would dive into our congested market with its leading titles in tow.

This pretty much seals the deal.

According to ITJ, the split is effective immediately, which means there’s just one more issue of Official Xbox 360 Magazine in the pipeline from the publisher. After that, it’s unclear how the magazine will transition back to its original owners or whether it’s appearance on shelves will continue uninterrupted. On the bright side, I’ve heard that Derwent Howard will retain OXM’s staff for a new Xbox 360-themed magazine.

Keeping with the industry gossip (dominated recently by the comedic antics of the phantom of the Internet), Derwent Howard’s new Nintendo games mag hit newsstands yesterday. Look out for a Lego Indiana Jones on the cover. IGN Australia also has a new Editor-in-Chief, in the form of ex-Official Playstation Magazine editor Narayan Pattison, after Bennett Ring’s recent departure to the world of mobiles.

For Oz gamers, the most prominent title in Future’s repertoire is Official Xbox 360 Magazine. Painting with broader strokes, this news would also affect T3 and Official Windows Vista Magazine.

The article goes on to say that Derwent Howard will likely make a statement today regarding the future of its brands. There’s also mention that Future may enter the Australia market.

I’d like to link to the story, but it’s only available to journalists registered to the ITJourno site. Even though ITJourno is a credible source and there’s no doubt in my mind about its validity, until this news makes its way to more accessible channels I’m going to mark it as a rumour.

Update: Smarthouse News has confirmation of the split.

Future, publisher’s of the UK version of OPM, also managed to snag Rob Smith, former editor-in-chief of PSM, to run their new mag. The first edition of the 13-issue-a-year magazine will hit in late November with a 300,000 circulation run.

“Future US has a strong heritage delivering cutting-edge insight into the industry, and we are looking forward to a long standing relationship to deliver unrivaled exclusive content to PlayStation fans,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PLAYSTATION(R)Network, SCEA. “We’re very excited to be working with a group that is nearly as passionate about our brand as we are ourselves and we look forward to working with Future on many
innovative ideas they have to create a best in class enthusiast publication.”

The fact that PSM UK seems to be doing quite fine overseas leads me to believe that maybe Ziff-Davis’ retreat from the pub was more about their financial stability than the well-being of the magazine itself.Sony Computer Entertainment America and Future US Announce the Creation of
‘PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine’

Future US to Publish First Monthly Issue in Time for Holidays

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Future US, Inc, the leading publisher of cutting-edge special interest magazines and websites, today announced that they have agreed to terms to publish PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine. The first full Future US-published issue of PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine will be the Holiday 2007 edition, on sale in late November. The initial circulation will be 300,000 copies and the frequency will be 13 issues per year. Future US will produce and oversee all the editorial and advertising sales for the magazine.
PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine will be the definitive news, previews and reviews publication for PlayStation(R) enthusiasts and users. It will offer users unprecedented access to the world of PlayStation and product special features made possible by the magazines’ exclusive relationship with SCEA. Rob Smith, formerly editor-in-chief of PSM-Independent PlayStation Magazine, will be the new editor-in-chief of PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine. Future US’ parent company, international special-interest media company Future plc, publishes Official Sony PlayStation Magazine in the United Kingdom and licenses it in numerous other countries.
“Future US has a strong heritage delivering cutting-edge insight into the industry, and we are looking forward to a long standing relationship to deliver unrivaled exclusive content to PlayStation fans,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PLAYSTATION(R)Network, SCEA. “We’re very excited to be working with a group that is nearly as passionate about our brand as we are ourselves and we look forward to working with Future on many
innovative ideas they have to create a best in class enthusiast publication.”
“We are enormously pleased to be selected to publish the Official title for one of the world’s great entertainment brands,” said Simon Whitcombe, Publishing Director, Future US. “Future’s international heritage is as a PlayStation publisher. PSM sold more than 40 million copies over its lifetime and we have published the Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK since 1995. We’re honored that SCEA recognises the excellence and experience that we can
bring to the licence and to PlayStation fans all over the world.”

Halo 3 Future Weapons Commercial [YouTube via The Xbox Domain]