Is EGM dying?

It’s been a rough year for publishing mogul Ziff Davis, the company behind the popular gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. ZD filed for bankruptcy early in the year, and only a few months ago canned Games for Windows Magazine, one of the most popular PC publications out there. Making matters worse, the New York Times is now reporting that PC Magazine, the nearly 30 year-old Ziff Davis flagship, is moving to an online-only format, and it may not be the only one; EGM might soon follow suit.

According to the story, Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young is considering moving EGM to an online-only format, but won’t make any comments until the end of the year. The move seems likely though, as Young has stated that, "The viability for us to continue to publish in print just isn’t there anymore." So it would appear that a gaming mag is about to bite the dust on print journalism’s long, slow death march.

In some respects though, the potential death of EGM won’t be too substantial a blow, largely because of the already robust online features of 1Up.com. EGM and 1Up began sharing editors and pooling resources a long time ago, likely in preparation for this inevitable day. It just appears that now, rather than 1Up acting as a supplement to EGM, it’s going to be the whole show. Still, for purists like myself this is still hard news to swallow, assuming it turns out to be true. There’s something about getting a magazine every month, flipping through the glossy pages and checking out the articles and photos that just gets lost in translation when going online. Perhaps I’m just a nostalgic old fool, but I’ll mourn the death of EGM, will you?

TGR Verdict: Rumor Very Likely