Zif-Davis, one of the top publishers of magazines, has given word that the Official US PlayStation magazine will be no more after January 2007. The company outlook mentions wanting to focus more on multiplatform coverage and so no longer sees the viability of a single platform- based magazine.

"Ziff Davis has had a great run with Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine for the past nine years," saluted Scott McCarthy, President of Ziff Davis Game Group. "We are very proud of the magazine and its outstanding editorial team, and we're obviously sad to see it go. Unfortunately, given where we are taking the Game Group, it doesn't easily fit into our integrated media network or afford us digital media opportunities."

Mr. McCarthy added, "In addition, it's a new world. The powerful online capabilities of the exciting PlayStation 3, coupled with ever- increasing broadband penetration in the U.S., allow for much more efficient distribution of game demos, videos, and trailers. With this next generation of game consoles, the days of having to bundle a disc with a magazine to distribute games-related content are over. And the disc has clearly been a major driver for consumer interest in premium-priced, platform-specific magazines in the past, when the magazine disc was the only way gamers could get such content."

One other factor in the decision was the demo disc that was bundled with each issue being unnecessary with the advent of downloadable demos from the PlayStation Store on the PS3.

"We are as excited about the PlayStation 3 as the rest of the world, and gamers will be sure to see us reporting extensively on the platform -- and on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable -- across our various media assets," said John Davison, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director of Ziff Davis Game Group and the former editor-in-chief of OPM. "We enjoy working with SCEA and look forward to continuing our relationship for many years to come.”