Announcing PLAY’s final issue

We all love to play – but the unfortunate truth is that at some point all games must come to an end, whether it’s because you got squashed by a rolling boulder, threw the controller down in frustration, or simply hit credits. That time has now come for PLAY as well.

PLAY #46 is on shelves on 15th October, and with subscribers just before!

So close to #50! Though, anyone who remembers our rebrand from Official PlayStation Magazine to PLAY back in 2021, from official to unofficial, will know the legacy stretches back much further than just those numbers.

Future Publishing’s history of making PlayStation mags began with the launch of PlayStation itself, with Official PlayStation Magazine kicking it all off in 1995. With demo discs aplenty, it was simply a must-buy for any PS1 owner, spotlighting heavy hitters like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and Silent Hill alongside gems like PaRappa The Rapper, with stunning bespoke renders, sketches, and comic-book-style art pieces.

“A compelling blend of complex storyline, stunning graphics and cerebral gameplay.” 10/10 (OPM 26, December 1997) (Image credit: Square Enix)

All the while, rival publisher Paragon Publishing (later bought out by Highbury, which eventually sold its games titles to Imagine Publishing) had its own unofficial PlayStation magazine: Play. A stalwart title in its own right, it covered PS1 from 1995 all the way through to its final issue, #297, in the PS4 generation, after going digital-only in 2016. But in that time they went from friendly enemies to friendly friends, Play joining the Future portfolio for its final few years.

That original incarnation of Official PlayStation Magazine ran until 2004, focussed solely on PS1 – a true single-format mag. Official PlayStation 2 Magazine launched in 2000, the two mags’ runs overlapping for several years. With a modern design to match PS2’s slick, futuristic edge, OPS2 would become known for its exclusive deep dives and chunky DVD-box-style demo and trailer discs.

OPM #1, OPS2 #2, and PSM2 #2 (Image credit: Future, Sony, Konami, Bandai Namco)

Bridging the gap was PSM2, Future’s unofficial PlayStation mag, which launched slightly before OPS2. The lack of a licence lent it an anarchic edge, and it took advantage of that, pursuing different stories to its sibling. Back then, loads of games would come out in Japan far ahead of English-language launches, and import coverage was vital to PSM2’s identity.

A similar relationship followed the launch of PlayStation 3, with PSM2 becoming PSM3, a PS3 mag, in 2006, but retaining its numbering. OPS2 lasted until 2008, though, as with the previous generation hop, it crossed over with the official PS3 mag, rebranded as the more generational agnostic PlayStation: The Official Magazine (technically shortened to POM, though for many the OPM moniker stuck). 

Higher-res artwork was becoming standard, meaning the chunky OPS2 banner was swapped for a sleeker one, leaving room on the cover for huge, striking images. The new name meant that this numbering of the magazine stuck all the way until 2021 and OPM #187.

“Visually it’s so far ahead of anything else out there it shatters your expectations… This is a PS3 showing what it’s truly capable of and delivering a landmark piece of explosive entertainment you can’t afford to miss.” 9/10, Leon Hurley (OPM #28, Feb 2009) (Image credit: Sony)

And then there was PLAY! A lot of people who have worked on PLAY also worked on PSM, across the likes of PSM2 and PSM3. But did you know the connection goes even deeper? For the 2021 rebrand, the plan was to assume the PSM mantle, before a last-minute pivot was necessary.

Internally, our product codes are still labelled PSM as a result. (A peek behind the curtain: within the magazine, the farewell feature’s filename is PSM46.feat_thanks.indd.) In effect, this means every issue of PLAY has been secretly moonlighting as PSM as well. It’s why I’ve always considered this version of the magazine a combo of the legacies of Official PlayStation Magazine, PSM, and Play.

With the brand change, a lot of people assumed our workflow changed too. As I’ve always told them: it really didn’t! Our relationship with Sony has remained much the same from an editorial point of view as it was from my time on OPM.

Carrying over the late-in-life redesign of OPM, we’ve tried to become slicker to embrace the higher-resolution images available, but all while writing about games with all the passion, energy, and silliness we could muster.

“Sharp characters and an utterly bonkers narrative combine with gorgeous visuals to create a wholly unique experience, and this is the thrilling and magical adventure that you and your Vita deserve.” 9/10, Louise Blain (OPM #72, July 2012) (Image credit: Sony)

It’s a legacy I believe will carry on – everyone who’s read any of these magazines carries a piece with them. Sentimental? Well, we wouldn’t be gamers if we didn’t believe in extra lives!

It wouldn’t have been PLAY without the teams that produced the PlayStation mags from the ’90s to the present, shaping copy, making beautiful covers, and distilling wild gaming marathons down into readable sentences; the fantastic contributing writers who have added their unique perspectives; and the readers who kept on turning the page.

“Just like the super-satisfying weaponry, Rift Apart shoots on all cylinders to set a new bar for PS5. We’ve never had a game like this before.” 10/10, Oscar Taylor-Kent (PLAY #3, August 2021) (Image credit: Sony)

Special acknowledgement needs to go out to the final team members. Jessica Kinghorn, Miriam McDonald, and Milford Coppock have made my years across OPM and PLAY a breeze. The quickest way to an editor’s heart is to make it so they don’t have to worry about too much, and with a team this experienced, and with such a deep knowledge of the medium, I’ve had the pleasure to worry about very little other than paving the road ahead. A path that, sadly, now comes to an end.

The final issue includes some of the text you’re reading right now, plus some extra insights from the rest of the team and those who have worked across OPM, PSM, and Play over the years (and some interesting facts and trivia).

PLAY #46, the final issue, is on shelves on 15th October. (Image credit: Future, Konami)

It’s a pleasure to have Metal Gear Solid on the cover of the final issue as well. Talk about a snake eating its own tail! It’s the kind of legacy send-off we couldn’t have better wished for.

Plus: with interviews with the devs of the last several western-developed Silent Hill games, a chat with Baldur’s Gate 3’s Andrew Wincott about bringing Raphael to devilish life, and dev access with low-poly horror indie developers, there’s a chilling element to this final October issue. Enough of you asked for a Halloween issue over the years, so here it is! My final gift to you.

For current subscribers, the subscriptions team will be in touch about next steps.

We hope you enjoy reading this historic issue. It’s been a blast, truly. For now, I’m signing off. Enjoy playing the next one!