PHOTOS: Playboy's sexiest celeb models
The decision, taken by Playboy founder and current editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner, 89, came during a meeting last month, and magazine execs have told the New York Times that the move will bring the publication more in line with modern thinking.
The mag, which first published in 1953, will still feature pictures of women in "provocative poses" but will abandon the publication of totally nude, pornographic images. Since the advent of the Internet, such photographs are no longer commercially viable.
Playboy's first cover in 1953
"You are now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it's just passe at this juncture," Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders told the New York Times.
Heff and some of his bunnies hit the Grammys
Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Darine Stern appeared on the cover of Playboy in 1971