Official Xbox Magazine Shuts Down

Official Xbox Magazine, the long-running magazine that covered all things Xbox, as the name implies, has officially shut down, according to a new report. The magazine reportedly folded last week with the remaining employees having been let go. Several other magazines from the same publisher were also reportedly shut down at the same time with Official Xbox Magazine being the only one of those focused on gaming.

The latest edition of Official Xbox Magazine, which could potentially be its last, featured a cover story on the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake by Capcom. Given the timelines of publishing printed content, there's a possibility that one or two more issues hit stands before the well runs dry, but the more likely outcome is that the same content that would have appeared within will instead appear on GamesRadar, which is where Official Xbox Magazine digital content has appeared since the magazine's site was folded into the larger operation alongside others like Edge.

"Like many organisations right now, we find ourselves being forced into making difficult decisions," a statement provided to Eurogamer by Future, the company that was publishing Official Xbox Magazine, says. "We have a duty of care to all our staff during this time and our focus is on protecting the business for them and for our customers. We have introduced a raft of measures to keep the numbers of lay-offs to an absolute minimum, including significant pay cuts for our Executive Team and Board. Whilst the decline in retail footfall impacts our magazine business, we are well placed with significant digital audiences and diversified revenues to continue delivering on our customers' changing needs at this time."

Official Xbox Magazine had a long life, compared to many of its contemporaries, of nearly 20 years, having launched in November of 2001. The timing of the closure is a bit odd given that the next iteration of the Microsoft console, the Xbox Series X, is scheduled to launch later this year. Then again, competition is fierce, and perhaps Future simply decided that one of its many other properties can easily pick up the slack.

What do you think about the magazine shutting down? Were you a reader of Official Xbox Magazine? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

The Xbox Series X, the latest and greatest iteration in the Xbox line of gaming consoles, is set to launch later this year around the holidays. No definitive release date has been announced as of yet, though certain system specifications were recently revealed. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Xbox right here.