Yes, it's official folks. Derwent Howard released a statement yesterday that includes the gory details. Sadly, I'm not privy to the statement itself, but IT media news site ITJourno has extracted everything we need to know. Again, I'd provide a direct link, but the site is only accessible to registered IT journalists.

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.

OPM rises again this November with a new set of letters and a brand new publisher. Exactly one year after Ziff-Davis set Official Playstation Magazine adrift into the sea of dead print media, Future U.S. will relaunch Playstation: The Official Magazine.

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.

Read More »