GamesTM (also called games) was a British video game magazine that came out in different formats. The first issue was released in December 2002. The magazine was published every month in English and German until its final issue on November 1, 2018.

Format

The magazine covered news about current and recent video games. It also had a section at the end that focused on older games, including reviews of past titles and comparisons of older consoles.

The magazine usually had about 112 pages. At the beginning, readers could find news articles and interviews with game developers. Next was a section with previews of upcoming games. After that, there was a large feature about a specific game or games company, which typically took up 4 to 5 pages. The final section included letters from readers.

Because the magazine covered games on many different formats, it reviewed a wide variety of games. However, most games that were released were not reviewed due to limited space and time for writing.

Reviews

Reviewed games received an overall score out of 10 points. Many games earned a 9/10, but only sixteen games in the magazine’s history received the highest score of 10:

• Metroid Prime
• Burnout 3
• Gears of War
• God of War II
• BioShock
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Fallout 3
• Demon's Souls
• Mass Effect 2
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• LittleBigPlanet 2
• Dead Space 2
• BioShock Infinite
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Super Mario Odyssey

Additionally, the online modes of Project Gotham Racing 2, Halo 3, LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter Tri, and Halo: Reach all received a 10, even though the single-player versions of these games scored 8 or 9.

The magazine also sometimes reviewed game-related hardware and features of Xbox Live. These reviews often included games available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace and retail games with Xbox Live functionality.

History

In January 2006, the future of the magazine became unclear after its publisher, Highbury Entertainment, faced financial problems and owed £27 million. Subscribers did not receive issue #40, and the next issue (#41) was not available in stores, even though it was expected to be released on 26 January 2006. At that time, the magazine's staff could not be reached, and calls to the subscription line resulted in a message stating that all magazine copies were sold. The magazine's website was temporarily unavailable but returned to operation after a few days.

On 20 January 2006, Imagine Publishing announced that it had bought GamesTM along with 23 other Highbury titles.

Imagine Publishing later stated that it would continue to publish GamesTM, resuming with issue #41, which was released in February 2006.

Issue #42 was published on 23 March 2006. The new editor explained in the introduction that the magazine would undergo changes. After that, the magazine returned to its regular monthly schedule.

In Issue #62, the changes first appeared. This marked the magazine’s first major update since it began. While the content remained mostly the same, the magazine received a new visual design. It also added two new regular sections: "Illustrated" pages that highlighted important games from the past, and "Reader's View," which allowed readers to submit their own articles for publication.

In 2006, GamesTM celebrated its 50th issue.

From 3 March 2008 to 2 December 2009, a German version of GamesTM was released every two months in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

On 1 April 2008, the Dutch version of GamesTM was first released in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a plan to publish 11 issues each year.

Starting with issue #68, GamesTM introduced "Industry," a small section inside the magazine focused on job opportunities. This section allowed game developers, universities, and colleges to advertise job positions and related courses alongside industry news and features.

In September 2010, GamesTM celebrated its 100th issue by releasing 100 different covers. Each cover was limited to 400 prints and represented one of the magazine’s 100 greatest games of all time.

In 2016, GamesTM was bought by Future Publishing along with all of Imagine Publishing’s other titles. The last issue was published in November 2018. Future Publishing explained that the magazine was no longer profitable.