Though, anyone who remembers our rebrand from Official PlayStation Magazine to PLAY back in 2021, from official to unofficial, will know the legacy stretches back much further than just those numbers.
Future Publishing’s history of making PlayStation mags began with the launch of PlayStation itself, with Official PlayStation Magazine kicking it all off in 1995.
All the while, rival publisher Paragon Publishing (later bought out by Highbury, which eventually sold its games titles to Imagine Publishing) had its own unofficial PlayStation magazine: Play.
But in that time they went from friendly enemies to friendly friends, Play joining the Future portfolio for its final few years.
That original incarnation of Official PlayStation Magazine ran until 2004, focussed solely on PS1 – a true single-format mag.
(A peek behind the curtain: within the magazine, the farewell feature's filename is PSM46.feat_thanks.indd.) In effect, this means every issue of PLAY has been secretly moonlighting as PSM as well.
It’s why I’ve always considered this version of the magazine a combo of the legacies of Official PlayStation Magazine, PSM, and Play. »