IDG Games Media Group Announces GameProWorld Online

Posted on March 9, 1999

IDG Games Media Group, publisher of GamePro magazine has announced the planned launch of an interactive entertainment Web portal called GameProWorld.com on May 13, 1999.

A recent survey of GamePro and PC Games readers, conducted by MediaMark Research Inc., indicated that multiplatform gamers are accessing the Web in far greater numbers and are spending more time online than ever before. The surveys also showed that while video and PC gaming sites were gamers favorites, they also visit entertainment, sports and music sites in great numbers -- confirming the demand for a comprehensive and integrated interactive entertainment site.

"GameProWorld.com will be the first and only site on the Web to deliver this unique information to such a powerful and targeted demographic segment of multiplatform gaming enthusiasts," said Cynthia C. Sandor, Senior Vice President of IDG Games Media Group's Internet Division. "Our dedicated editorial team will support the super-site with the same high quality content that made GamePro magazine the 5th largest male teen magazine in the country."

The GameProWorld portal will deliver gaming news, reviews and previews for each of the major gaming platforms, initially via four primary channels: GamePro.com will keep video gamers up-to-speed; PCGamePro.com will provide gaming insight; MacGamePro.com, a new channel, will be dedicated to the growing number of Mac gaming enthusiasts; and NetPro.com will guide consumers to entertainment and lifestyle sites on the Web.

In order to focus its resources on these aggressive online initiatives, IDG Games Media Group has sold its PC Games magazine subscriber file to Imagine Media Inc., of Brisbane, Calif. IDG Games Media Group will cease publication of PC Games with the April 1999 issue. The majority of the PC Games staff will continue to be employed by the IDG Games Media Group in the Internet Division.

"Our coverage of the PC gaming market will now be on the Web in the form of PCGamePro.com and in print via PC GamePro, a supplement to GamePro magazine," said John F. Rousseau, president and CEO of the IDG Games Media Group, and publisher of GamePro magazine. "The continued consolidation of PC gaming companies, together with increasing competition from alternative media, make the opportunities for us online very clear. GameProWorld.com will provide exactly the kind of interactive advertising vehicles our customers have been looking for."