''Strana Igr'' (, Gameland) was a Russian
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
focused on
video games
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
. It was published by Gameland between January 1996 and November 2013 when the magazine was suspended due to financial problems.
History and profile
Starting December 2010, the magazine established a partnership with Japanese magazine ''
Famitsu
, formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'', publishing the best of their features. Magazine's chief editor Konstantin Govorun notes this allows the publication to cover exclusives prior to releases in English magazines.
In an interview with GamesLife.ru, Govorun describes that the magazine has seen a significant growth compared to its early years, now becoming one of the biggest video gaming magazine. He explains the success of the publication with the fact that Russia has a strong PC gamer market and that the few available non-Russian publications, such as ''
Edge'' or ''
gamesTM'', do not share the same target audience. He also notes that the team, including editors, are allowed much freedom in writing columns and that the staff room did not see major changes over the years and considers these factors important for still being in circulation, despite other similar magazines having closed.
Sergey Galenkin explains in a Kanobu.ru piece that in comparison to other defunct magazines, ''Strana Igr'' has taken care to publish non-sensationalized pieces steadily that match their target audience well.
He also noted that the magazine's publisher Gameland runs several other publications and the magazine's online availability are positive factors to remain in circulation.
In magazine format, game reviews received a score of up to 10 in 0.5 increments. According to review aggregator
Kritikanstvo, ''Strana Igr'' published over 3700 game reviews with an average score of 75%.
In late 2013 ''Strana Igr'' experienced financial problems, and the magazine's release was suspended.
[Сайт Константина Говоруна]
«СИ» и краудфандинг
/ref> Many of the former employees joined the Russian version of IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
, which was launched by Gameland publishing house the same year.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.gameland.ru/
1996 establishments in Russia
2013 disestablishments in Russia
Defunct magazines published in Russia
Magazines established in 1996
Magazines disestablished in 2013
Magazines published in Moscow
Monthly magazines published in Russia
Video game magazines published in Russia
Russian-language magazines