Edge is a video game magazine that covers different types of games. It is published by a company called Future plc and is based in the United Kingdom. The magazine comes out 13 times each year. It was started by Steve Jarratt in 1993. Edge also has versions published in other countries, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

History

The magazine was started in October 1993 by Steve Jarratt, a longtime video games journalist who also started several other magazines for Future.

The cover artwork for the magazine’s 100th issue was created by Shigeru Miyamoto. The 200th issue was released in March 2009 and featured 200 different covers, each one honoring a different game. Ninety-nine of these covers were available to the public, while one was only given to subscribers. A total of 200 copies of the magazine were printed for each cover, which was enough to meet the magazine’s circulation of 28,898.

In October 2003, the editor of Edge, João Diniz-Sanches, left the magazine along with the deputy editor, David McCarthy, and other writers. After this departure, Tony Mott became the editor again, as he had been the editor before Diniz-Sanches. The only person who stayed was Margaret Robertson, who later became editor in 2006. In May 2007, Robertson left the position, and Tony Mott became editor for the third time. Alex Wiltshire was editor from May 2012 to March 2013, followed by Nathan Brown. In April 2020, Jen Simpkins became the new editor.

From 1995 to 2002, some content from the UK edition of Edge was published in the United States as Next Generation. In 2007, Future’s US branch, Future US, began republishing recent Edge articles on the Next Generation website. Later, the Edge website and blog were added to the NextGen site. In July 2008, the entire site was renamed to Edge, as it was the more established brand. In May 2014, it was reported that Future planned to close the websites for Edge, Computer and Video Games, and other video game publications. In December 2014, it was confirmed that the Computer and Video Games website would close, and its content would move to GamesRadar. In January 2015, the same change was announced for the Edge website. Between 2015 and 2018, Edge articles were sometimes republished on Kotaku UK.

Since the magazine began, its design has been changed three times. The first change happened in 1999, the second in 2004, and the third in 2011. The first redesign made the magazine wider than its original size. The most recent redesign changed the magazine’s size for the second time and used better quality paper than before.

Features

Each issue includes a "Making-of" article about a specific game, often featuring an interview with one of the game's original creators. Issue 143 introduced the "Time Extend" series, which are articles that look back at games. Like the "Making-of" series, each "Time Extend" article focuses on one game and uses knowledge from the past to examine its most interesting or creative features.

The "Codeshop" section covers technical topics, such as tools used for creating 3D models or software that helps make realistic movement in games. The "Studio Profile" and "University Profile" sections are short summaries, similar to a card game called "Top Trumps," that provide information about game developers, publishers, or college courses related to game development.

Although a list of people who contributed to the magazine is printed in each issue, the magazine usually does not credit individual writers by name for reviews or articles. Instead, it refers to the magazine as a whole, called "Edge." Since 2014, some articles have included the names of the writers. Writers who regularly contribute columns have always been credited. Current columnists include James Leach, Clint Hocking, and Tadhg Kelly. Some columnists also appear early in the magazine to discuss the game industry in general, not just specific game design topics. These columnists include Steven Poole, Leigh Alexander, and Brian Howe, whose parody article section "You're Playing It Wrong" began with a new magazine design.

Previous columnists have included Paul Rose ("Mr. Biffo," founder of Digitiser), Toshihiro Nagoshi of Sega's Amusement Vision, author Tim Guest (whose column on online games came before his book Second Lives), N'Gai Croal, and game developer Jeff Minter. Many columns were written anonymously under the name "RedEye," and several Japanese writers contributed to a regular section called "Something About Japan."

James Hutchinson's comic strip Crashlander appeared in Edge between issues 143 and 193.

Scoring

Edge magazine rates games using a scale from 1 to 10, with 5 being the average score. For much of its history, the magazine used a system where scores matched specific descriptions:

• disastrous
• appalling
• severely flawed
• disappointing
• average
• competent
• distinguished
• excellent
• astounding
• revolutionary

In issue 143, the scoring system was changed to a simple list: "10 = ten, 9 = nine…" This was a humorous way to show that some readers overanalyze scores. It took nearly three years before Edge gave a game a 10/10 rating, and to date, 28 games have received this score.

Only two games have ever received a 1/10 rating: Kabuki Warriors and FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction.

In a December 2002 special issue about retro games, Edge later awarded 10/10 ratings to two older games:
– Elite (released in 1984)
– Exile (released in 1988)

Edge also gave a 10/10 score to Super Mario Bros. (released in 1985) in a regular retrospective review.

In Edge’s 10th anniversary issue in 2003, GoldenEye 007 (1997) was listed among the magazine’s top ten shooters. A note stated it might have deserved a 10/10 rating, even though it originally received a 9/10.

Resident Evil 4, which came second in Edge Presents The 100 Best Videogames, originally had a 9/10 score. However, the 100 Best Videogames issue noted it was "very close" to being ranked sixth at the time.

In the 20th anniversary issue (E258) published in August 2013, a feature called "The Ten Amendments" adjusted the scores of seven games to 10/10. Reasons were provided for each change:
– GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64)
– Advance Wars (Game Boy Advance)
– Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)
– Drop7 (iOS, Android)
– Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
– Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Arcade)
– Dark Souls (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows)

Special issues

Several special editions of Edge were published in the UK. These editions include:

"1996 essential hardware guide" (1996)

"Essential hardware guide 2000" (2000)

"The 100 most significant reviews from the first 100 issues" (2001)

"Retro: The guide to classic videogame playing and collecting" (2002)

"Retro: 'The making of…' special" (2002)

"Edge presents Equip: PlayStation 2 edition"

"Edge presents Equip: GameCube edition"

"Edge presents Equip: PC edition"

"Edge presents Equip: Xbox edition"

"Specials issue ten: 'Retro: The Collector's Series'" This final edition in the Retro series reprinted all the "Collector's Series" articles from the main magazine. Each article focused on a specific video game console from the past and discussed its history and the collector's market for rare or valuable games. This was unusual for Edge, as most of the articles were written by one journalist: Simon Parkin, a long-time freelance contributor to the magazine.

"Edge presents FILE Volume 1 – Issues 1-12: The birth of a new generation" (2006)

"Edge presents FILE Volume 2 – Issues 13-24: The new generation shows its strength" (2007)

"Edge presents FILE Volume 3 – Issues 25-36: Videogame culture enters a new era" (2007)

"Edge presents… The Art Of Videogames" (2007)

"Edge presents… The 100 Best Videogames" (2007)

An Edge Special Edition – "the 100 greatest videogames" (2015)

An Edge Special Edition – "the 100 greatest videogames" (2017)

An Edge Special Edition – "the 30th anniversary special edition" – 100 greatest games of Edge's lifetime (2023)

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Dark Souls (video game)
• Super Mario 64
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Resident Evil 4
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Half-Life 2
• Portal (video game)
• Elden Ring
• Doom (1993 video game)

Foreign editions

An Australian version of the magazine was published for less than six months in early 2004. This edition mostly included content from the UK version, along with news about the local video game industry.

A Brazilian version was launched in Brazil in May 2009. It included articles translated from the UK magazine, as well as original content created locally. The magazine was stopped in November 2010 after 18 issues were published.

A selection of translated articles from the UK magazine was included in the French magazine Joypad. In 2017, a French company named La Financière de Loisirs began publishing the magazine in France, starting with a special 200-page issue about popular games that changed the gaming industry, as well as AAA and indie games.

A German version of the magazine was launched in October 2005 by the publishing company Computec Media AG. This edition had fewer pages than the English original, slightly different covers, and higher ratings. In January 2007, the publication frequency changed to every two months, and in July 2007, the magazine was stopped.

An Italian version of the magazine was launched in October 2004 under the name Videogiochi and published by Future Italy. In December 2006, Future Italy was sold to Sprea Editori, which renamed the magazine Game Pro in May 2007. The last issue was published in September 2009.

A Spanish version of Edge was launched on April 15, 2006, by the publisher Globus. This edition shared some staff with On/Off, a Globus magazine about DVD video and consumer technology, which was unrelated to video games. Some articles from the UK edition, such as the story about Virtua Fighter 5, were not included in the Spanish version.

In late May 2009, a message on the official Edge Spanish forums, posted by the main administrator, announced that Globus was ending its video game division. This decision led to the closure of the Spanish editions of Edge and NGamer.

In October 2017, a new official Spanish edition of Edge was released. A new issue is published every two months.