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Games Mag Tycoon
Run your own video game magazine: write reviews, design covers, sell ads, fill cover discs, produce videos, hire editors and hold your own at the newsstand against the competition of the era. The golden age of print games magazines - in the style of the classic business sims.

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Features
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔
German ✔ ✔

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Games Mag Tycoon is playable from the first issue in 1986 to the end of your career, with all rooms and systems - but with a focus on German games journalism. I am a solo developer and have tried to test as much as possible, bringing in friends and colleagues as well, but what is still missing is what only many players can provide: balancing over 25 years of play, gaps in the historical data and a feel for whether making the magazine is demanding in the right places. I want feedback on that early instead of going on guessing on my own.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Around three months are planned. It depends on how much feedback comes in and how much of it goes into the game.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version should be better balanced, contain more events and get a scenario mode with tasks modelled on historical examples. Further ideas I am thinking about but have not decided on yet are Games Mag Tycoon International (choose a country at the start, with its own language and its own data for each games and magazine market), an online editorial team for the late game, subscriptions (so far there are only regular readers), taking over competing magazines and replacing the publisher as a goal besides economic success.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“All rooms are in place and playable: editorial, editorial offices, layout, ad sales, news, games office, staff, property, bank, service, newsstand, archive, boss's office, showroom, tips & tricks, hardware office, special issue office, production room for cover discs and video production. The campaign runs from 1986 to 2010 with games, platforms and competing magazines modelled on the era. There are Steam achievements, a Steam Workshop for mods and an introduction to every room. The game is available in German and English; the English translation was made by machine and is being revised. Balancing and data quality are not finished yet, and bugs are possible.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price will probably rise moderately at the end of Early Access - at the moment it is about what a magazine cost back then (just in euros); for 1.0 it may move towards a "special issue price", a few euros more.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Through the Steam forums and the discussions on the announcements. Every piece of feedback on balancing, data and bugs is read. Anyone who wants to add games, magazines or images can do so directly through the Workshop; good (and legally sound) additions are meant to go into the main game, with credit.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Q1 2027

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About This Game

Your magazine. Your readers.

You take over a small editorial office in an office building: a few editors, your first test devices, an empty magazine. Which games make the cover? Who reviews what? Is there enough money for the printers? And how long will your readers stay when the competition at the newsstand has the better covers or content?

Games Mag Tycoon is a playable memory of the age of games magazines from 1986 to 2010, from the 8-bit home computers to the HD consoles. The deadline creeps closer while you walk through the building and try to turn every issue into a real magazine - into YOUR magazine.

What you do

  • Plan the issue. Fill your magazine with games, previews, hardware, tips and news. Every editor has strengths, favourites and a mood.

  • Design the cover. The cover sells this issue, the content sells the next one.

  • Review and score. What does your team give the classic? And what do the publishers think of that? And what score do YOU give?

  • Make money. Ads, print run and price: those are your business levers.

  • Grow with the times. Hire editors, add new platforms, expand your offices, publish special issues and cover discs, up to your own video show - whether as multimedia readers' letters or as the Games-Mag spaceship.

  • Listen to your readers. You will only succeed if you read your readers' feedback and draw the right conclusions. But there is no manual for the perfect magazine.

An industry as it was

  • 25 years of games from 1986 to 2010, with platforms, games and publishers as they shaped the era.

  • Thousands of games with release date, genre and platform, modelled on gaming history - with Steam Workshop support

  • Games magazines modelled on the era as your competition at the newsstand

Mods and Workshop

The content lies in open files in the game folder: games, magazines, editors, publishers, images and texts. Share and subscribe to mods through the Steam Workshop, for example more games for a favourite platform or your own covers. Use the existing, curated data - or change everything.

About me

I read games magazines in their "golden age", above all in the early days of PC gaming in the early nineties, with ASM, PC Player and later GameStar. To this day I follow many of the editors of that time in what they have done since. Games Mag Tycoon is the game I always wanted back then - MAD TV and MAD News were my favourites in my personal "business sim phase".

I have worked as a software developer since 2003. I generated the graphics with code, no AI image generation was used; the style took many rounds of work. The music consists of original songs by my band and me, only restyled with AI for the game. Apart from that, AI was only used for bulk texts in the game data (for example game descriptions) and for the English translation.

Note

Games Mag Tycoon is a fictional business simulation. All games, magazines, companies, devices and people in the game are invented. Any resemblance to real games, magazines, brands or names is purely coincidental and does not mean that their owners are in any way connected to Games Mag Tycoon or oLabAndI; they have neither supported nor endorsed the game.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

AI was only used for bulk texts (data records). The translations are currently also made with AI. The music is original music by me and my band, but I adapted its style with AI. I generated the graphics with code; no AI image generation was used. The game does not use AI at runtime.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 10, 64-bit
    • Processor: Dual core, 2 GHz or faster
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: DirectX 11 capable graphics with 1 GB
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 1 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: 1920×1080 display recommended, ultrawide (21:9) supported
    Recommended:
    • OS: Windows 11, 64-bit
    • Processor: Quad core, 3 GHz or faster
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Dedicated graphics card with 2 GB
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 1 GB available space