The death of EGM and maiming of 1UP

[kingkilburn]

Ziff Davis will sell its videogame media division to Hearst Corporation, which will shutter longtime print publication Electronic Gaming Monthly, numerous sources reported Tuesday.

A story about the sale and closing of EGM went up on PaidContent today, but was taken down. But What They Play's John Davison -- a former EIC of the magazine -- salvaged the text and reprinted it.

GameSetWatch's Kevin Gifford -- former 1up editor -- added the detail that the current issue of EGM on stands (pictured) will be the very last, and that the February issue, which is completed, will be distributed digitally.

Davison finished his blog post by saying that official information should be coming tomorrow. (Update: It's all official now; check below.) Considering the well-placed nature of the various sources, things are not looking too good for EGM. This is a 20-year-old magazine that occupied a very special place in many gamers' hearts -- I can still remember buying my first issue, with spy photos of a prototype version of Super Mario World on the cover, when I was 10 -- and it's sad to think it might not even get a last hurrah of a final issue on shelves.

Update: The acquisition, if not the future of EGM, is now official.

Update 2: Gamasutra has a copy of the email sent out to 1up employees, and it confirms that the January issue of EGM is the magazine's last. Sad days.

Update 3: Sadder than I expected. Looks like the layoffs came down today, and the 1up Show videos are no more. Seems as if the GameVideos team is gone.

From the Wired blog network.

What do you guys think of this? I myself have had a subscription for nearly a decade. I would have liked for them to at least have given the staff a final edition.

It seems like the paper magazine is quickly dieing as of late.