Rumored for a while now, today it was officially announced that Paizo Publishing will no longer be publishing Dragon Magazine or its sister magazine, Dungeon. This doesn’t seem to be by Paizo’s choice, as Wizards of the Coast jointly announced the conclusion of Paizo’s license to publish the magazines – seems that Hasbro-owned WotC is looking to drink more deeply of the PDF market. In the press release (copied below), Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of Dungeons & Dragons at WotC stated “Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information. By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world.” Readers that liked having the magazines in hand rather than being forced to a computer screen may disagree, especially those who recently resubscribed. Paizo is offering multiple transition options to subscribers with issues remaining after the final issues in September (Dragon #359 and Dungeon #150), including the option of signing on for Pathfinder, “a new monthly 96-page perfect-bound, OGL-compatible, full-color softcover Adventure Path book printed on high-quality paper for use with the world’s most popular roleplaying game.” Personally, I just received the May ’07 issue of Dragon today, and it contains a “Last issue. Resubscribe!” announcement bundled with it. Either Paizo got caught off guard with this, or someone forgot to notify the shipping department.
Paizo Publishing/Wizards of the Coast press release follows:
Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEON
Magazines to continue through September 2007
Paizo Publishing and Wizards of the Coast today announced the conclusion of Paizo’s license to produce DRAGON and DUNGEON magazines effective September 2007. Publication of DRAGON and DUNGEON will cease with issues number 359 and 150, respectively.
“Today the internet is where people go to get this kind of information,” said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, Wizards of the Coast. “By moving to an online model we are using a delivery system that broadens our reach to fans around the world. Paizo has been a great partner to us over the last several years. We wish them well on their future endeavors.”
“We at Paizo are very proud of the work we’ve put into DRAGON and DUNGEON during the past five years,” says Erik Mona, Paizo’s Publisher and Editor in Chief of DRAGON. “While we’ll all miss working on these venerable magazines, our talented editorial and art staff as well as our phenomenal team of freelance contributors will continue to produce high-quality, exciting, new OGL releases that are aimed at supporting our existing customers and beyond. We look forward to sharing useful and provocative new products that support our favorite hobby.”
Subscribers should visit paizo.com/transition to learn more about the future of their subscriptions. Multiple options will be available for customers whose subscriptions extend beyond the final issues of the magazines. The final issues will be DRAGON #359 and DUNGEON #150—both of which will contain special content commemorating the history of the these incredible magazines. The Savage Tide Adventure Path will conclude as planned in DUNGEON #150.
Paizo will continue to publish its popular GameMastery line of RPG accessories, including a new line of monthly OGL adventure modules beginning in June with Nicolas Logue’s Crown of the Kobold King.
Paizo Publishing spun off from Wizards of the Coast’s periodicals department in 2002. In its five years as publisher of DRAGON and DUNGEON, Paizo introduced popular features such as the The Shackled City, Age of Worms, and Savage Tide Adventure Paths, the Demonomicon of Iggwilv, Core Beliefs, and Critical Threats. Paizo published three official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS hardcover books—The Shackled City Adventure Path, The DRAGON Compendium, and The Art of DRAGON Magazine. In five years of publishing DRAGON and DUNGEON, Paizo received twelve Gen Con EN World RPG Awards (ENnies) and the 2004 Origins Award for Best Gaming Related Periodical.
ABOUT WIZARDS OF THE COAST
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, MAGIC: THE GATHERING®, among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of roleplaying games, such as DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times bestsellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast Web site at www.wizards.com.
ABOUT PAIZO PUBLISHING
Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, and board games. Paizo’s GameMastery line offers Game Masters fun and useful tools, such as Map Packs, Item Cards, and the new Pathfinder Adventure Path books, that improve their fantasy roleplaying experience. Titanic Games, Paizo’s board game division, unites the greatest game designers to create compelling, challenging games like Kill Doctor Lucky and Stonehenge, the world’s first Anthology Board Game™. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the five years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than a dozen major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.
Paizo Publishing, LLC and the Paizo “golem” logo are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the U.S.A. and other countries. © 2007 Wizards.
They have known about it for a little while…however, you got something in the mail that was clearly part of the automated process. It also tales about 3 months to get a publication in process…
Those who recently resubscribed have only been able to get 6-month subscriptions since October. (And readers who like having a magazine, or most other RPG products, in hand have repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to pay what it really costs. Although an RPG periodical that really goes high-end, delivering production values and a caliber of content reminiscent of Pagan Publishing’s old Unspeakable Oath, would be a very interesting experiment – one that it looks like Paizo may be inching toward with Pathfinder.)
I think Pathfinder has some decent potential. Many people were just buying Dragon and Dungeon just for the campaigns…
Those two mags were $14 a month.
Hey Chris:
> They have known about it for a little
> while…
Of course. And due to the rumor mill, they weren’t alone. 🙂
> however, you got something in the
> mail that was clearly part of the automated
> process. It also tales about 3 months to get
> a publication in process…
I know, I’m aware of the process. I was just amused, is all.
Hey misuba/Mike:
> Those who recently resubscribed have only
> been able to get 6-month subscriptions
> since October.
Um, not according to my wife, who just resubscribed me for a full year two weeks ago. New online subscriptions can sign up for the monthly billing per issue, but my wife just mailed a check. It’s not in Paizo’s best interests to telegraph the end of the two magazines as far back as last October. That’d be slitting the wrist of their cash flow.
> And readers who like having a magazine, or
> most other RPG products, in hand have
> repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to
> pay what it really costs.
Has any monthly periodical really tested this theory? I agree that if any publisher could test this theory and survive, it might be Paizo and Pathfinder.
“Those two mags were $14 a month.”
And $16 (US) at retail. Which is why I only buy DRAGON magazine but even at $8 cover price (hiked up a dollar last year), I’m selective with each issue.
Funny, I was considering about subscribing.
BTW, the PATHFINDER will be at a whopping $20 cover price. Since it will model closer to DUNGEON, I’m not interested.
lame. Good magazine, but it won’t be as good in pdf. I can get pdf. content for free on the net.
Damn, Dai is right…$7.99 a pop. SO pathfinder will only be $4 more a month for much higher quality paper stock. Interesting.
THIS, we are not touching: “I can get pdf. content for free on the net.”
Actually, $20 is more than $11.99.
Dai, what are you talking about this time.
7.99 for Dragon + 7.99 for dungeon = $15.98
Pathfinder will be $19.95. Aside from small change, that is a $4.00 difference.
1) Pathfinder isn’t a new magazine – it is a periodical, but think of it more as a time-delayed, long-form module.
2) I’m not sure you’ll see Dungeon and Dragon as PDF content – the releases and interviews I’ve seen haven’t seemed to indicate that direction.
For those who are interested, the head of Paizo sales just did an interview on Pulp Gamer’s Inside Track podcast on this topic.
PATHFINDER is not going to be a double issue. Just 96 pages, just like one DRAGON or one DUNGEON.
As you said, it will resemble more closer to DUNGEON than DRAGON. Good for DUNGEON readers, not good for the rest of us.