The game of chance: Guardian 1994 piece on the games magazine industry

In 1994, the games magazine industry was in serious trouble.

From March 10th of that year, this Guardian piece (PDF) takes a look at the changing face of the sector. An advertising “christmas that never was” had set alarm bells ringing in early 1994, and Commodore Force publisher Impact was the first casualty: by February, it had closed its four games titles. A market “packed to the gills” was blamed; readers were spread thinly across too many magazines, and advertisers didn’t want to know.

This article namechecks a few people C64 fans will be interested in, from Graeme Kidd to Future’s Greg Ingham and the “publisher everyone wants to emulate, ex ZZAP! editor Chris Anderson”.