So I reported back in January about ADV’s new PiQ magazine, which was the replacement for Newtype USA, which was becoming unprofitable (licenses were expensive, and the news came out too late). NTUSA quit in February while PiQ‘s premiere issue came out in April. Subscribers of the former magazine were able to transfer their remaining subscription x2 to PiQ.
I had wanted to get a copy but never got around to it. CalAggie rather enjoyed the first issue and preferred it over NTUSA, but I guess his opinion wasn’t shared by the majority. Only after four monthly issues, PiQ is now closing its doors.
After initial rumors and reports said all employees of PiQ, LLC (subsidiary of ADV), have moved out of their offices, PiQ’s website itself has made the official announcement.
Freelance writers will be paid for their work in the unpublished August issue. Current subscribers, including those still on the two-for-one deal back from NTUSA‘s closure, will be notified later of what will become of their subscriptions.
…Well that’s sad to hear. PiQ really seemed like a good idea when ADV realized the problem with Newtype USA as being too slow. Fans could get anime news a lot faster, and the bonus DVD was starting to become less needed, too (what with all the downloading/torrenting going on). So with that in mind, the PiQ staff should have been on top of things in order to face those challenges. But the website cited “low advertising revenue, poor business management and a lack of proper marketing and promotion” as what killed the magazine, so I guess they weren’t that prepared after all.
PiQ, LLC, will close, but I hope that ADV itself will survive.
~Crisu
That’s a shame. I’d like to think that monthly, printed magazines still have something to bring to the anime-coverage table, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it might be. I remember back when I was into gaming I used to rate one or two monthlies pretty highly – the internet’s a better news source, and demos &c are usually available for free download, but most issues of PC Gamer (UK) used to have at least one genuinely very well-written article, frequently several. I don’t know if gaming and anime are a good comparison, though: anime’s a much narrower, niche interest.
If ADV died, I’d be very depressed…
I’m the owner of J-List and we advertised in Newtype and PiQ. The former was, ahem, a lot better return on our advertising dollars. If that experience was shared by other retailers, it might have been part of the problem.