The sole remaining official magazine in Britain has turned off the lights, as Official PlayStation Magazine UK is no more. The publication’s latest incarnation tallied 187 issues, with Returnal being the last ever cover star. Future Publishing shuttered Official Xbox Magazine UK in 2020, while Official Nintendo Magazine UK published its final issue all the way back in 2014.
Official PlayStation Magazine UK was, for the longest time, Britain’s best-selling video game magazine – but the emergence of the Internet (and, if we’re honest, websites like Push Square) has resulted in declining sales. For many PlayStation gamers, including ourselves, the publication was practically a Bible in the late 90s and early 2000s: those PS1 demo discs were iconic.
The good news is that Official PlayStation Magazine UK isn’t going away entirely: the existing editorial staff are relaunching PLAY starting 4th May, with a Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart cover. Back in the glory days of gaming magazines, PLAY was published as an “unofficial” alternative to OPM – but it was eventually shuttered in 2016. Now it’s back!
“Our aim is for PLAY to go farther and deeper than ever before into the world of PlayStation gaming,” Editor Ian Dean wrote on GamesRadar’s website. “And crucially, it's made by the same team of writers, editors, and designers, with the same deep industry access, quality of writing, and passion for all things PlayStation.”
The magazine will be available worldwide, and you can find out how to purchase it through here. If you’re an existing subscriber to Official PlayStation Magazine UK, then your subscription will simply carry across. You can find out more about the new magazine on Games Radar, but in the meantime let’s pour one out for the last ever official publication on UK shores. We’ll miss you, OPM!
[source gamesradar.com]
Comments 57
Hmmm, reminds me I have the first hundred or so editions of this, from edition 1 onwards. With discs. Was going to throw them. Do people think they’re worth anything before I do?
End of an era, it's a good magazine 😃
@thefourfoldroot you'll probably get enough for a new game ,so not loads of money ,but better than just sitting there if you're not interested.
That's a shame as I started getting into it again around the PS5 launch and only just bought the latest issue the other day. I must be a bad luck jinx. At least the staff aren't being axed.
@Spaldy Sounds like PLAY will practically be the same magazine in all but name anyway, so that's good. Might even be better if they're now able to do things that the official license wouldn't previously allow them to!
@vapidwolf
Oh, ok, not sure it’s worth the bother of listing and posting them in that case. Thanks.
@Wolfie_Pie
Exactly the same here lol. Although my best demo was the one with smash court tennis. Played that to death.
Shame to see OPM gone along with the others. I currently have a subscription so glad to see it's gonna transition to something else rather than go away completely. Looking forward to the first issue arriving.
I love print, so it's always sad to hear of a magazine closing down, but the resurrection of PLAY with the same team working on it makes me feel hopeful for the mag's future.
I've never missed an issue of OPM UK, so this news means that I'm in a position where I have all 187 issues of Official PlayStation Magazine UK in my collection, too.
Gotta admit, I’m gutted. I used to spend loads each month buying the various video games mags - OPM, Gamesmaster,, Official Xbox mag, Game, Edge..but slowly they were whittled down to just OPM and Edge. I use sites like PushSquare, Pure Xbox, Eurogamer etc, but I still like(d) buying magazines. Maybe cos I’m in my late 40’s I’m just old-fashioned! If ‘Play’ (welcome back btw!) is a dedicated PlayStation-only magazine, what’s the point of canning OPM and relaunching Play if they are catering to the same audience? Anyway, RIP OPM, you served us well 😢
Ironically I actually prefered PLAY to OPM.......till PLAY was discontinued.
To be honest the loss off OPM has had less of an impact than the loss of CVG and Games Tm.....to me.
@thefourfoldroot Do you happen to still have discs 6 and 8 of the original PS1 demos? Trying to get a complete collection and these are the only ones I'm missing.
Disappointing but sounds like Play could be a nice replacement so that's good.
Great magazine, still get them monthly and will be sad to see them go.
Subs automatically switch over to PLAY so we’ll see how the new issues go.
@JamieO I still have my complete OPM collection since issue 1 from 1995!
I got confused for a minute, I was thinking about Super Play. Still got the first issue and the pin badge of that lying around.
80’s/early 90’s magazines were the best.
@Nightcrawler71 It could be that Future no longer wants to pay Sony for the official license.
@StartWars
Sure, somewhere. I started collecting from issue 1. Word of warning though, no matter how well the discs where taken cared of, many will not work. The cds back then where incredibly easy to scratch, and they only came in paper pockets.
I haven't bought an OPM UK magazine since the beginning of the PS2 generation but had practically every issue up until PS2 launched. It's funny how I used to hold their reviews in high regard but looking back they really had some awful reviews that were complete outliers to the general consensus: giving 9/10 to Star Wars Episode 1 (later discovering the reviewer was bribed with a trip to Skywalker Ranch), 10/10 to EVERY PS1 Tomb Raider (massive bias towards UK devs) and worst of all, only giving 7/10 to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night which basically doomed the game into obscurity in the UK.
@JamieO wow, that is impressive, I still have the original demo discs from the old mags but my magazine collection is long gone, recycled them long time ago
@StartWars and @huyi Awesome, it's fun to flick through old mags, especially from the 1990s.
I'm a bit obsessed about keeping hold of my gaming mags, just a few examples of my complete magazine collections are full sets of Mean Machines, Super Play, Ultimate Future Games, Arcade, and I also have later mags like every gamesTM and now all the OPM UK mags too.
I have all the issues of Retro Gamer and Wireframe released so far, as well, but as StartWars will understand with keeping the Official PlayStation Mags since 1995, the main issue I have with collecting magazines is the amount of space they take up!
Great stuff, though, I like to hear from other retro mag fans and collectors.
Im going to be ass here towards online sites but my Dutch OPM was always something extra special towards the end of the month.
Online game news is brilliant but its just less special maybe it was the wait but i always loved it reading it during my break. Always was fun to see adults react to another adult reading something like that.
Also the only reason i came to bookstores. 🤪
My computer magazine buying peaked at Commodore User, and dried up with Amiga User! I had moved to Canada by the time OPM came about. Still, when I head back home to visit mum I'd always love the trip to Tesco to buy a copy! One thing the article doesn't say, and the reason I bought a new subscription to PLAY last night, is that they have a special offer of 5 issues for 5 $/£. So I'm going to give it a try. Magazines aren't as ingrained in the culture here in North America the same way they are in the UK. Not sure why...
@get2sammyb gap in the market here ;-p
Ahhh, I will pour one out next weekend as I don't drink as often as I used to. Finally got to reorganize the bonfire I had planned with friends for 5th of November since they announced lockdown on that day >_>
@JamieO i remember gamesTM , used to have a few issues of them too, and official Nintendo magazine.
but hey, if i really wanted to look at every issue i could probably download it in digital form if i really looked for it, internet really did kill age old media formats
@JamieO Very nice set! I have an entire bookcase dedicated to them but I'll probably run out of space for new magazines in a year or two. I'm still looking for a couple of demos to complete the collection.
The last magazine I bought was the Pokémon Diamond/Pearl launch issue of the ONM 😅
@thefourfoldroot Let me know if you find them -; I'd be interested in them if you were planning to throw them out.
@JamieO. Jamieo whats up playa.did you guys in the uk had gamepro magazines also.it was cool.im from new york.and PlayStation magazine was also cool.etc.word up son
@StartWars
Yeah, I think I left them in my mum’s loft when I moved out about 15 years ago, lol. Hopefully the wood mice haven’t got to them. I’ll have to sort them out at some point. Send me a private message if you can do that here otherwise I’ll lose this post. Not promising anything but I have no attachment to them.
@playstation1995 Yes, we got GamePro here in the UK, mate, but only as an import magazine, like with Electronic Gaming Monthly.
I used to go to a shop called Borders, which imported US magazines, including skate magazines like Thrasher and Transworld Skateboarding. I have a few issues of GamePro and EGM — plus GameFan was a really good American gaming mag — but unfortunately Borders shut down.
It was a shame when the GamePro website was closed down too, because there were a lot of great articles that were lost without access to that site, from what I can remember.
The Internet has killed gaming magazines.
@thefourfoldroot It doesn't look like you can send private messages here - I've popped you a PSN request.
If they still did demo disks with exclusive demos on them I'd buy magazines for the demos but that's a thing of the distant past
I used to get Zzap!64, SEGA Power and SEGA Force... think I'd stopped buying magazines mostly by Saturn / PS1 era. I did get Retro Gamer when that started though.
Was so exciting to see a game preview you were interested in a magazine back then, before you could look anything up online.
Think I preferred Play to OPM before it disappeared. Have sub'd for the 5 copies and will enjoy casually sitting and reading some of the articles rather than looking at a screen. It's great having sites like Push Square (my favourite! ) and being able to watch footage via YT, etc. but I do miss flicking through a magazine.
@JamieO. Cool haha.did uk had gamepro 📺 tv .video power with Johnny arcade.and nick arcade all 3 was early 1990s video games show.all legendary games show.word up son
@playstation1995 On TV in the UK we had 'Games Master' on Channel 4 and 'Bad Influence' on ITV. I remember recording a Sonic 2 preview on VHS and watching it over and over in anticipation of the games release.
@Ristar24. Oh wow here in new york i never heard those that you mention.but glad you guys had them.i never missed video power with Johnny arcade and others i mention.all are you tube.i watch them a lot.memories.i miss the early 1990s.word up son
@playstation1995 That's interesting, I didn't know that there was a GamePro TV!
I don't actually know much about American video game shows, although I've heard a little bit about a Canadian one called Electric Playground.
As far as I understand, Electric Playground was presented by Victor Lucas — who still does retro gaming YouTube videos — as well as Tommy Tallarico, who composed the music for Earthworm Jim.
Like @Ristar24 mentioned, our main nostalgic gaming TV shows in the UK were GamesMaster and Bad Influence. There have been UK TV shows since, one I remember was called The Blurb, and it was presented by Lucy James who now works for GameSpot.
I started subscribing to UK OPM several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed reading it every month. I remember subscribing to OPM when it was the unofficial PSM here in the states. It was such an awesome magazine. Really sad to see UK OPM disappear, but at least they are continuing with Play magazine.
@JamieO. Its on YouTube check it out.put gamepro 📺 tv.you will see it.a cool show.about sega genesis.snes.nes.etc.word up son
@playstation1995 Yep, can find clips of our shows on youtube too, they both had a distinct style, as Games Master was aimed at a slightly older audience. 90s was a great time for video games no doubt!
I have an issue of Play that I bought on my only trip to the UK back in 2006. It previewed Final Fantasy XII, one of my favorite games.
@thefourfoldroot if they are complete wihh demos and in good condition, they could be worth £1000s as a collection . Check ebay for prices.
Individually they should be worth selling, I'd guess.
Definitely don't chuck them out!
No love for Gamesmaster mag ? Used to love that, was so sad when it folded. It was aimed at a younger audience but was an entertaining read and their passion for gaming shone through.
GamesTM was great - I still have every issue and I'll never get rid of them
So basically they’re now independent of Sony.
Not necessarily a bad thing.
I wonder if this Play is the only specific console focused magazine around now, Inknow there are others like Edge that cover video games in general
@Barryburton97
Oh, ok, that’s a new perspective, lol. I’ll definitely have to do some research.
@thefourfoldroot honestly I don't think they would be worth much now, but I would hold on to them especially if you still have the discs for them just try and keep them in good condition, as you never know in 10-20 years time they may be worth a bit, you never know. I had a darilc toy and a portable mario handheld game which I threw away when I was young and found out few years ago if I had kept them would have been worth quite a bit now sold them for 50p and about 2.50 at the time. There are collectors for everything and you don't realise so I would say hold on to them especially if they are in good condition. The worse thing you can do is throw thing's away and realise ten years down the line they are worth a bit of money. Look at some vinyl now or even rare VHS they are worth ££££ I have quite a few VHS tapes in attic and keeping hold of them as you never know what people want In the future, worse thing that can happen is you keep them bit annoying and worth maybe a few quid each, or keep them maybe worth a bit of money In future you never know, so my advice would be keep them.
@Daleaf
Well, they have been in my mums loft for what must be a couple of decades thinking about it (god, now I feel old). So I’m not exactly in a rush, but still
@Wolfie_Pie That doesn't sound sad at all. That sounds like you are one rad gamer. I remember getting the Xbox magazine because that's pretty much all my grocery store had for a while🤣
@JamieO @Ristar24 Bits was actually really good too. Shame it only lasted a few years.
Some other bizarre shows like Game Guru and G@mers were also decent.
Movies, Games and Video, and later Cybernet, was worth a watch on Saturday afternoon too.
More recently, Ginx TV wasn’t too bad until it went esports crazy.
@SoulChimera Ah Bits, yeah late night channel 4, I did watch that, though was quite a bit later on. Remeber the Shenmue preview. The style was so very 90s. I remember Movies, games and videos and Cyberbet too, I think. Dont remeber the others, but I only had the standard TV channels at the time.
Yeah, Bits was great, I was importing a lot of stuff around then and they quite often showed lesser known games.
This news article must have stuck in my head, because I'm not only sitting here with a cup of tea on a Bank Holiday Monday morning reading the Returnal cover feature in the final 187th May issue of Official PlayStation Magazine UK, but I've also been flicking through my original Super Play binder, which holds the first 12 issues of the mag.
Hats off to @SoulChimera for mentioning above about the first issue of Super Play, which included the free pin badge, as well. That free gift reminds me of when Mean Machines had a Contra Spirits jigsaw as a freebie, too, and I'd say that both Mean Machines and Super Play are two of my truly favourite magazines.
For retro mag fans, it's also definitely worth a read of Damien McFerran's detailed The Making of Super Play Magazine Nintendo Life feature, to understand the impact that the SNES mag had from its very first issue.
Have a good Bank Holiday Monday, to everyone in the UK.
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