Following the August launch of Disney’s largest and most ambitious gaming initiative to date, the magazine will focus on Disney and Pixar movies and characters starring in the game. Content will include game news, upcoming product information, tips and secrets, as well as character information. The Disney Infinity magazine will launch in February 2014 and will retail for £3.99.
Laura Adnitt, Publisher, Egmont Publishing Group commented: “The Disney Infinity magazine will allow us to extend our hugely successful boys portfolio, bringing our readers a snaphot of the Disney Infinity universe. It will be full of story-driven adventures, perfect for fans looking for ways to become experts and extend their enjoyment of the game and their collection.”
The trend of publications covering digital entertainment has been shown to be an effective way to bring boys to reading through a subject they love, say the publishers, and the Disney Infinity magazine will be the newest addition to Egmont UK’s boys’ portfolio. Other publications built on a gaming brand include the All About Angry Birds magazine, which first went on sale this October and a series of books from BAFTA award winning sandbox game Minecraft. This series was made up of The Minecraft Beginner’s Handbook, The Minecraft Annual and The Redstone Handbook. Egmont UK also own the rights to books and magazines based on the following games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Doodle Jump, My Singing Monsters and Temple Run.
Egmont’s independent boys title, Toxic, regularly tailors its content towards gaming and has continued to grow, reporting its fourth consecutive period of growth in the latest ABC results (22.1% growth year-on-year and 11.7% growth period-on-period). Egmont UK’s investment in digital developments has seen the Toxic brand extension include a interactive issue in partnership with Aurasma last year, as well as the launch of its bespoke website and also its first two apps this June.
The latest chapter in Egmont UK’s Reading Street study, released last month, demonstrates how books and the digital world can co-exist to have a positive impact on children reading for pleasure. It identifies that the digital worlds and games loved by children can act as new ways into reading and this trend is something the release of the Disney Infinity magazine will continue to build. The research also quotes Bowker’s recent study ‘Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age’, which shows that the time young boys spend gaming jumps significantly between the ages of three and 13, while reading drops between eight and 17. Egmont is looking to capitalise on these trends by using pre-teen boys’ love of gaming to pull them back towards reading.
Rob McMenemy, Senior VP Egmont English Language & Central Europe added: “We’ve seen in our Reading Street research that gaming brands are a magnet for pre-teen boys. They are also proving an excellent way into reading and we’re noticing a huge appetite for digital brands amongst our own publishing, of which Disney Infinity is the latest acquisition.”
Egmont will publish Disney Infinity content in the 2013 November issue of Disney Stars, as well as launching the standalone magazine in February 2014.
