WoW: The Official Magazine was quarterly magazine with previews, interviews, art, and guides to WoW. It was a subscriber-only publication so you wouldn't have seen it in stores. There were no advertisements in the magazine so subscriptions were probably its only source of revenue. Guess they just didn't get the amount of readers needed to stay afloat.
If you were going to base a magazine around one game, it seems like WoW would be a smart bet considering the size of the player base. The popularity of the game cuts both ways, though. There are so many impressive sites devoted solely to covering WoW that can be accessed for free, so it's a bit tough for a premium mag to compete. Those websites had a big head-start, too; WoW was about five years old when the magazine first launched.
I made a similar point in my interview with Julian Rignall, the editorial director of the magazine, last year. Rignall's position was that the high production value of the magazine and its exclusive behind-the-scenes access would allow it to stand out, though.
Most WoW: The Magazine subscribers will get a choice between a full refund of their remaining subscription balance or a collection of six in-game WoW pets. A few subscribers with lengthy subscriptions were also offered additional premiums, such as a PC Gamer subscription. Full details on the refund process can be found at the magazine's website.
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