UK · 1985–1992
The UK's leading dedicated Commodore 64 magazine, essential reading for C64 owners who wanted type-in listings, hardware hacks, and reviews of the machine's enormous software library.
Commodore 64 User launched in 1985 from EMAP at a time when the C64 had established itself as Britain's dominant home computer, outselling rivals including the ZX Spectrum in absolute unit terms despite the Spectrum's higher profile in much of the gaming press. The magazine served the dedicated C64 community with a format that reflected the era's participatory relationship with home computing: type-in program listings occupied as much space as commercial software reviews, and readers were expected to engage with the machine's hardware directly rather than treating it as a passive entertainment device. Cassette and later disk covermounts — physical software attached to the cover — were an early innovation that would become standard across all UK gaming publications. The magazine wound down as the Amiga replaced the C64 as EMAP's primary 16-bit focus, with its readership migrating to Amiga Format and CU Amiga by the early 1990s.