A.D. Vision (ADV) has contacted their advertising partners to let them know that the February 2008 issue of Newtype USA is the last edition of the magazine. When subscribers of Newtype USA have inquired about the status of their subscription, they have received an e-mail stating that the company will be launching a new magazine in March. The new magazine is called PiQ, and it will cover anime, manga, video games, and other aspects of pop culture.

Current Newtype USA subscribers will have their remaining issues fulfilled at a two-to-one ratio. This means that subscribers will get double the number of magazines remaining in their subscription. However, if current Newtype USA subscribers don’t want to receive the new magazine, they can contact A.D. Vision and opt out at any time. This information has been confirmed by Gary Steinman, Newtype USA’s Editor-in-Chief.

After initially being linked to Digital Manga, A.D. Vision launched Newtype USA at Anime Expo 2002 with issue 0. The first regular issue of Newtype USA was the November 2002 issue. After including issue 0 and the February 2008 issue of the magazine, 65 issues of Newtype USA have been published.

A.D. Vision licensed Newtype USA from Kadokawa Shoten, the publisher of the original Newtype Magazine. In Japan, Newtype has been in publication since 1985, with its first issue released in March 1985. The original magazine is named after the Newtype evolution of humans in Gundam. Newtype USA’s circulation is estimated to be around 50,000 to 70,000 copies per month.

It has been pointed out by some Newtype USA subscribers that Geneon Entertainment had advertised quite heavily in the magazine. So there is speculation by some fans on the internet that Geneon Entertainment’s ceasing to distribute anime in the United States has helped to bring about A.D. Vision’s decision to shut down Newtype USA.

In my opinion, the loss of a publication such as Newtype USA has the potential to deal a major blow to the anime industry in the United States. While A.D. Vision’s replacement publication, PiQ, will still cover anime, I suspect that it will not cover the genre to the same extent that Newtype USA had. When you combine this development with Geneon Entertainment’s ceasing to distribute anime in the U.S., it is definitely a sign that the American anime industry is changing. Whether or not these changes will be good in the long run remains to be seen.