CD-Action

CD-Action is a Polish magazine devoted to video games.^[1] It was founded in 1996 and published in Wrocław. The magazine was published in a cycle that was not exactly monthly, as subsequent issues of the magazine were published every 28 days. As a result, thirteen issues were released annually. In January 2022, the magazine switched to a quarterly publication cycle.^[2] The typical volume of an issue is 124 pages (until March 2009 it was 148 pages). From December 2006 to July 2011, it was published only in a version with one double-layer DVD ( previously there were versions with four CDs for readers without DVD readers). From August 2011 to July 2018, two DVD9 discs were added in a cardboard packaging. In August 2018, the publishing house decided to stop adding a physical medium, replacing it with a scratch card with a code.

CD-Action

Editor	Dawid Bojarski
Categories	Video game magazine
Frequency	Quarterly (since Jan 2022)
Circulation	70,000 (July 2019)
Founded	1996
Company	Gaming Tech Esports Media SA
Country	Poland
Based in	street Słonimskiego 1A, 50-304 Wrocław
Language	Polish
Website	cdaction.pl
ISSN	1426-2916

History

1996

• April 1 – first issue of "CD-Action" (circulation: 12,500 copies)^[3] published by Silver Shark^[4]
• July – first full version of the program
• December – first full version of the game (Polish Blood Law)^[5][6]

1997

• autumn – Zbigniew Bański becomes the editor-in-chief of "CD-Action"^[7][3]

1998

• July – the first full version of the game occupying a separate CD (Pro Pinball: Timeshock!)^[6]

1999

• March – circulation exceeded 100,000. copies; website start^[8]

2000

• July – circulation 200,000 copies; 50th issue
• changed publisher to Future Network Publishing^[4]

2001

• January – change of publishing house to Bauer^[4]
• July – 3 CDs permanently; a DVD edition was released in parallel about once every six months
• December – the thirteenth issue of the year appeared for the first time (13/2001)

2002

• July – for the first time in the history of the magazine, a film appeared (The Return of Godzilla)

2003

• April 1 – the journal's internet forum was established
• August – DVD edition now released every two months

2004

• January – the fourth CD is permanently added to the magazine
• June – 100th issue – CD-Action 06/2004
• September – monthly release of the DVD version in parallel with the CD version

2005

• December – increase in DVD capacity (from 4.7 GB to 8.5 GB)

2006

• September – the first full version of the game before the world premiere in the history of the magazine (Bad Day L.A.)
• December – last issue of the magazine on CD

2007

• August – change of editor-in-chief; Zbigniew Bański's place (who became the publishing director) was taken by his current deputy, Jerzy Prosta [11], and the function of deputy editor-in-chief was taken by Maciej Kuc, known to readers as Qn'ik, took over

2010

• January – change of the appearance and content of the magazine, including: Gamewalker's elimination; adding reviews of console games and other minor changes

2012

• February – 200th issue – CD-Action 02/2012 [12]

2013

• January - changing the paper to a more slippery and more durable one, dictated by the start of printing the magazine in a private printing house of the Bauer publishing house.

2018

• August – the first edition in which the DVD was replaced by a scratch card with a code.^[9]

2019

• September – 300th issue – CD-Action 11/2019.^[10]

2020

• April – first issue of the magazine in electronic version. Electronic and traditional versions for the first time in history without digital additions (5/2020).^[11]
• At the end of April, the editorial office was given notice of termination, and at the same time the publisher announced that it was looking for an investor.^[12]
• July – the rights to the CD-Action brand were sold by Bauer Publishing House to the Fantasyexpo gaming agency. A change in the position of editor-in-chief was also announced, and Dawid Bojarski became the editor-in-chief.^[13]
• December - the first issue, in which the characteristic image of a Discobolus in the logo, present on the covers of the magazine from the beginning of its existence, was abandoned.^[14]

2022

• January - the editorial office announced the change to a quarterly publishing cycle.^[2]

Substantive content

There are 124 pages of permanent sections (order as in the magazine):

• Info – news from the world of games
• In production – game announcements written based on materials provided by the developers and impressions from the beta versions of the games
• GameWalker – editorial comments on the games reviewed in a given issue
• Reviews – descriptions of reviewers' impressions of played computer games with a rating on a scale from 1 to 10
• Kaszanka Zone – reviews of extremely poor games. The department was closed in January 2010, but was reopened after eight years.^[15]
• Journalism - a section devoted to general computer issues (Internet, programming, etc.), gaming-related topics, e.g. the history of computer games, companies producing games and computers, columns, thoughts, information about new technologies, etc.
• Magazine – a review of news from the world of film, music and literature
• Technologies – all new hardware, hardware tests, advice, etc.
• Action Redaction – readers' lists to which Smuggler, Mr Jedi and 9kier respond, with occasional contributions from other editors
• Szpile – mockingly about the gaming industry
• Loot – descriptions of full versions of games included in the magazine

In the past, there were several departments that have been abolished:

• Subject of the issue - usually contained one, extensive text on a topic related to currently important events in the gaming industry. From issue 2/2010 it is no longer distinguished in the table of contents as a separate section.
• Controversial games - another subdivision of the journalistic section. It featured games that were considered controversial in the industry.
• Casual - a humorous corner