Blizzard have just announced that they will launch a new official WoW magazine at a time when the publishing industry is flinching and crumbling because advertisers are tightening their purse strings. They say there is a market for it and that the magazine will be a success – even a collector’s item.

It will be a quarterly publication with almost 150 pages. The first issue will be launched very soon indeed at the upcoming BlizCon which will be celebrating WoW’s fifth year. The first ever issue of the magazine will cover how the game has evolved through the years from going from a couple hundred thousand players to over eleven million at present – the population of a small country basically.

The magazine is going to avoid the advertising fallout by not publishing any advertisements. Instead they will rely completely on subscription fees (the magazine will not be sold in shops). It is available in the US for around $50 per year and 35 Euros in Europe (£30 GBP). It will be published in English, French, Spanish and German. Furthermore, you know you’re getting articles from the guys who know what they’re doing.

“It would be foolish not to have people on staff who understand” the game’s lore. One writer, based in England, is a leader of an 800-person WoW guild”, said a Dan Armich who will edit the magazine.