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.

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