Tag Archives: james binns

James Binns, formerly of Future Publishing, has launches his new venture this morning, known as Network N.

More »

James Binns, head of Edge and PC gaming at Future, will leave the company on Friday to concentrate on other projects, reports GamesIndustry.

More »

Future Publishing’s announced that ex-Official PlayStation Magazine editor-in-chief Tim Clark is to become the company’s new EiC of its gaming arm.

More »

Future has announced the appointment of James Binns as Head of Edge International and PC Gaming and Simon Maxwell as Group Publisher, Console and Online.

More »

Apart from Edge. Which is up less than half a percent year-on-year.

More »

Future has confirmed to VG247 that longstanding UK PlayStation mag PSW has closed.

It had a final ABC of 24,118.

The publisher has redeployed one member of the team within the business and is currently in consultation with the magazine’s other four team members.

“It’s always incredibly sad when we close a title as established as PSW, but the decision was taken in response to decreasing demand,” said Future games boss James Binns.

“By focusing our efforts on Official PlayStation Magazine and a single independent PlayStation title in PSM3, we can strengthen our position in delivering the number one and number two print titles in the sector.

“We continue to invest in our traditional print brands, but games is a rapidly changing sector, so our portfolio needs to constantly evolve to meet the needs of consumers in a vibrant and diverse market.”

The publication was launched by Computec in 2000, and was later bought by Future in 2003 along with Computec UK’s other games titles, such as Xbox World.

Future said yesterday that it is declining to publish six monthly ABC figures this year.

Future games portfolio boss James Binns has told VG247 that the publisher’s decision to not audit its magazines this summer is a matter of saving money.

“We’re not auditing our Games portfolio this half-year – instead we will be publishing full year figures for Jan-Dec 09 at the start of 2010,” said the exec.

“On a company-wide level, Future made the decision to ABC only three titles from our UK portfolio. Our choices to ABC are always taken to reflect the commercial requirements of each magazine.

“Like many businesses, our particular focus this year is on aggressive cost-management, so we have only paid for those titles with a very clear commercial need to be audited.”

It was reported earlier that Future had made the decision to keep its sixth monthly figures private. As far as we’re aware, this is the first time in the company’s history – it was formed in 1985 – it has failed to publish these figures for its games titles.

Still. Roll on 2010, eh?

Edge publishing director James Binns said today that moving control of Edge Online to the UK from San Francisco and installing a new editor and news ed would allow for “effective planning and more flexibility in news gathering”.

Former EIC Colin Cambell left the site on Friday, as did staffers Kris Graft and Rob Crossley. Campbell this morning posted an blistering view of the situation on his new site, GameBizBlog.

Here’s the Future statement in full. There’s a word there from Edge editor Tony Mott as well.

James Binns, Publishing Director of Edge, said:

“Any brand needs a strong, consistent voice across multiple media. We’re focused on developing the best quality content from the ground up that works well in print and online, and has a true global voice. That means effective planning and more flexibility in news gathering. The changes to the team that we’re making will put us in a stronger position to achieve this.

“As we wish three of Edge Online’s freelance contributors the best of luck in their next roles, we’re pleased to announce two full-time appointments for the site, both of whom offer cross-media skills and experience with the Edge brand. Alex Wiltshire, previously deputy editor of Edge magazine, moves into the role of editor, Edge Online, while Tom Ivan, an Edge Online veteran, becomes the site’s news editor.”

Tony Mott, Editor in Chief of Edge, added:

“Following our issue-200 print promotion and a period of consistent audience and traffic growth on our website, the Edge brand is in a great position, and our strategy for Edge Online – strengthening the core editorial team to work across print and web, while continuing to expand our network of reporters globally – will help us to maintain this momentum throughout 2009.”

GamesRadar‘s been renamed TombRadar for today as a marketing thing to celebrate the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld.

“Tomb Raider: Underworld is a great game, well worth the 9/10 scores it is picking up across gaming websites and magazines,” said James Binns, Future’s publishing director.

“Getting the message out there on launch day is essential in the games market and this takeover gives Eidos unprecedented cut through.”

The game, however, appears to have only received two 9s, one at “ConsoleMonster” and one at Future’s PC Gamer, as seen there on TombRadar.com.

It has a MetaCritic average of 78 percent.

Just saying.