Future Publishing has confirmed that the CVG brand is to be killed off, marking the end of more than three decades of video game coverage.
Computer & Video Games — CVG for short — began life back in 1981, covering the burgeoning UK home computer market. The magazine at this time was printed on black and white paper and filled largely with pages of code which, when typed into your computer, would result in a playable game.
As the '80s progressed the publication focused more on systems like the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, but when the first wave of consoles arrived from Japan, its attention switched to those platforms. Throughout the '90s the magazine's fortunes fluctuated; during the tenure of Julian Rignall — who is now in charge of US Gamer — CVG's readership exploded, but prior to the arrival of the 32-bit systems in the middle of the decade, circulation had dropped. New editor Paul Davies would step in and transform the magazine, revitalising its commercial potential and reaching an enthusiastic, dedicated audience.
In an effort to gain even more readers, EMAP decided to turn CVG into a more mainstream magazine towards the end of the '90s, a move which would prove catastrophic and would eventually result in the brand being sold to rival Dennis Publishing. Dennis would in turn sell the name to Future Publishing which ceased production of the physical magazine in 2004, choosing instead to push the brand via its website, which had been established in 1999.
Since 2004 the website has become on of the UK's leading sources of news, reviews and features. However, that hasn't prevented Future from closing it down and folding its content into GameRadar+, an "all-in-one" entertainment portal which aims to do battle with global rival IGN. Other Future websites have also been closed and their content is being migrated over to GamesRadar+.
Declan Gough, Head of Content & Marketing, Future Games, Music, Film, had this to say about the announcement:
The new GamesRadar+ has seen huge audience growth and has exceeded all our engagement expectations. The results to date have been hugely encouraging as we move to the next stage of development. The new channels see us migrate the online audiences from Edge, Official Playstation, Total Xbox and CVG into GamesRadar+, creating an exceptionally powerful games offering and one that is totally unique. GamesRadar+ will showcase the exceptional talents of the 50+ Games, Film, TV and entertainment journalists we have at Future.
It marks a sad end to one of the UK games industry's most iconic and respected names. Are you a former reader of the printed magazine, or were you a fan of the website? How do you feel about such a legendary name being put to rest? Share your thoughts with a comment below.
[source mcvuk.com]
Comments 30
I bought Yoshi's Story on the strength of that cover and review. CVG in the classic Paul Davies era never steered me wrong.
Well this is sad because I used to love reading the C&VG mag as a kid. It's also where my favourite gaming magazine of all time, Mean Machines, was born too, which makes it even more sad. Never really got into the CVG website and I think that was due to the clunky messy layout to be honest. It didn't have any of the charm of the magazine that gave birth to it. Maybe if it were laid out a bit more like Nintendo Life, which I think is a really enjoyable gaming website to navigate and read, simple and elegant, it might have caught on with a few more people.
This news saddens me, it was my "go to" magazine for import reviews back in the day. It was always exciting to buy a new issue. It also taught me some of the most important things I learned in my life, like all the special moves in "Street Fighter II". Thank you, C&VG!
They doomed themselves when they named a publication company 'Future' xD Oh the irony.
I guess I don't really understand this because I'm not from that side of the pond, but why would they ditch a dedicated audience to try take IGN head on? Isn't that a great way to sort of... fall into irrelevancy/obscurity? Better to continue serving a niche audience than get lost in a crowded market dominated by giants.
@FritzFrapp I would have never figured out how I was randomly pulling Zangief's 360º Piledriver until I read the guide in CV&G.
@Jellyscare As I'm sure we've said to one another on several occasions, the Davies era CVG was in many ways the perfect games magazine. They knew the value of official assets but the design and layout was gorgeous and still looks great, even today. They combined in-depth knowledge with raw, unbridled enthusiasm; there was no pretence of trying to be cool or smart or have an agenda of any kind aside from promoting the best games of the period, regardless of what format they were on.
And it was only a couple of quid when all the other mags were almost twice as much!
Loved that mag in the 90's, when I had my SNES and Sega Saturn. I remember Ed Lomas, he was great, loved all games, they were his friends lol. Big Sonic fan, I think?
@MJKOP Yup, the Legend of Lomas burns brightly
Ed... shoulders knees and toes. Why is that in my head?! Was there a competition or something to give him a new surname?! Weird lol
Looking at that cover, it's fascinating to see what high quality games were released across platforms back then. Pretty much every single title mentioned is still being well remembered more than 15 years later.
Sad to see CVG go, read the magazine in the 90's and still use the website a shame.
Sad to see CVG to go.
In the U.S. We had a similar death with Electronic Gaming Monthly. EGM for short.
What was the name of the female model who featured in the 90s in CVG magazine? She was hot.
I had never heard of it before these reports started coming in. Curious, I went to the site and found I really liked it. If it weren't going under I would probably start using it as my main source of gaming news. Sucks.
Maybe Gamesradar will be good too, but if it's cramming together all those other magazines I don't have much hope for it being the same.
I only read it when it actually had CVG (Not the full Computer and Video Games) printed on the cover.
"Julian Rignall" I remember from the Gamesmaster TV program and that is all.
Omg future publishing wtf?!? First they get rid of my favourite magazine Nintendo Power, now there getting rid of UK's CVG magazine?!? Man...what a bummer!
I loved reading those mags and got into them when I became friends with someone who moved from the UK to Canada and had a lot of the issues from around the 16-bit/ 32-bit era. Sad to hear yet another great magazine go
It's always nice to just take the magazine in your hand and read it rather than see everyting from the screen. The thing is though that when you can read the game magazines for free at the local library and then read some more for free in the internet, there might not be a long future for any videogame magazines. Finland has two big magazines left, and those have been the only important ones I can remember from the past 9+ years.
Best part of print magazines (Not official ones however) is the person buying it is a customer not only advertisers.
Just looked at some of the content now. Wish I had known about it before good content (Hard to find these days).
I used to love buying the magazine
Not sad at all to see CVG finally end.
Losing the magazine sucked, sure. But the website was utterly crap, with misleading, clickbait headlines and shoddy 'journalism' that echoed the UK's 'finest'.
And considering Games Radar is even worse, I won't be holding my breath for this. Pass.
@Sergio151 So true, yet the internet can also be a way to bring back these classic video game magazines into the digital age, if you know what I mean.
If you don't, just take a look at my profile.
Unfortunately in the "digital age" there is no place for magazines.
This is depressing. I'm on the wrong side of the pond for this but even in the 90s I had heard of them and then in the early 2000s when I got into video game history I learned about how they used to print the compile code in their magazine. I remember thinking that was really neat and that it was crazy that a magazine would even do that.
We're losing a real piece of history here.
CVG Christmas 1991 was the first games magazine I ever bought. Reviews included Quackshot on the Megadrive, and Super Castlevania IV on this strange new foreign machine, The Super Famicom. There was also a big pull-out guide to the latest handheld games. As an 11 year old brought up on the Amstrad CPC464 and the Spectrum +2 and +3, who was only just about to get an NES as my first console that Christmas, all of the exciting new games inside the magazine were a revelation. It only seems like yesterday!
@RCMADIAX PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine, both in North America.
Sucks. The old school gamer in me hates to see these magazines go... especially Nintendo Power =( But hey, we have Retro Gamers Magazine that is still pretty legit lol. And Game Informer isn't going anywhere.
RIP CVG. I hardly knew ye, as I live in the US. My old magazines were Electronic Gaming and PlayStation Magazine. Sadly never subscribed to Nintendo Power
NOOOOOOOOOOO!
GAMESRADAR SUCKS, THEY ARE THE KIND OF IDIOTS THAT WOULD GIVE DESTINY GOTY AND ADD TOTAL FILM ARTICLES TO IT AS WELL. I AM THIS CLOSE TO BOYCOTTING FUTURE. THEY KILLED NGAMER, THE GREATEST GAMING MAGAZINE IN HISTORY, AND PUTTED THE FUNDING IN XBOX AND SONY MAGAZINES.
ROT IN THE FIREY DEPTHS OF HECK!
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