Future US

Last updated

Future US, Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Publishing
Predecessor
  • Imagine Media
  • GP Publications
Founded1994;30 years ago (1994)
Headquarters
New York City
,
US
Key people
  • Rachelle Considine (CEO)
[1]
Parent Future plc

Future US, Inc. (formerly known as Imagine Media and The Future Network USA) is an American media corporation specializing in targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology markets. Headquartered in New York City, the corporation has offices in: Alexandria, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Washington, D.C. [2] Future US is owned by parent company, Future plc, a specialist media company based in Bath, Somerset, England.

Contents

History

The company was established when Future plc acquired struggling Greensboro (N.C.) video game magazine publisher GP Publications, publisher of Game Players magazine, in 1994. [3]

The company launched a number of titles including PC Gamer , and relocated from North Carolina to the San Francisco Bay Area, occupying various properties in Burlingame and South San Francisco. When Chris Anderson, the founder of Future plc, sold Future to Pearson plc he retained GP, renamed Imagine Media, Inc. in June 1995, and operated it as his sole company for a few years. [4]

Buoyed by the Internet economy and the success of Business 2.0 in the US (and subsequently in the UK, France, Italy and Germany), Future rode the boom of the late nineties. During this period the company won the exclusive worldwide rights to produce the official magazine for Microsoft's Xbox video game console and cemented its position as a leader in the games market. In the spring of 2001, buffeted by economic factors and the market downturn, Future Network USA went through a strategic reset of its business that included the closure of some titles and Internet operations and the sale of Business 2.0 to AOL/Time Warner. [5]

On September 19, 2007, Nintendo and Future announced that Future US would obtain the publishing rights to Nintendo Power magazine. This came into effect with the creation of issue #222 (December 2007). [6]

On October 1, 2007, it was announced that Future US would be making PlayStation: The Official Magazine , which ended up replacing PSM and first hit newsstands in November 2007. With this launch, Future US became the publisher of the official magazines of all three major console manufacturers in the US. PlayStation: The Official Magazine closed in 2012. [7]

In 2012, NewBay Media bought the Music division of Future US. [8]

In 2018, Future reacquired majority of the assets previously sold to NewBay by buying NewBay outright for US$13.8 million. [9] Future used this acquisition to expand its US footprint, particularly in B2B segment. [10] [11]

In May 2021, Future US acquired the rights to Marie Claire from Hearst Communications. [12] Parent company Future plc already owned the rights to Marie Claire in the UK after its acquisition of TI Media in 2020.

In August 2024, Future US announced it would be closing Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News on September 30, 2024. [13]

Magazines and websites

Current titles

Its magazines and websites include:

Defunct titles

Notes

  1. ↑ not to be confused with Pocket Gamer by Steel Media

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlayStation (console)</span> Home video game console by Sony

The PlayStation is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released in Japan on 3 December 1994 followed by North America on 9 September 1995, Europe on 29 September 1995, and other regions following thereafter. As a fifth-generation console, the PlayStation primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn.

<i>DuckTales</i> (video game) 1989 video game

DuckTales is a platform game developed and published by Capcom and based on the Disney animated TV series of the same name. It was first released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989 and was later ported to the Game Boy in 1990. The story involves Scrooge McDuck traveling around the globe collecting treasure and outwitting his rival Flintheart Glomgold to become the world's richest duck.

PC Gamer is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries. The magazine features news on developments in the video game industry, previews of new games, and reviews of the latest popular PC games, along with other features relating to hardware, mods, "classic" games and various other topics. PC Gamer and parent Future began digital PC Gaming Show at E3 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Future plc</span> British publishing company

Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson.

Game Players was a monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock in 1989 and originally published by Signal Research in Greensboro, North Carolina.

<i>Worms Armageddon</i> 1999 video game

Worms Armageddon is a 1999 turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Team17 as part of the Worms series. It was originally released for the Microsoft Windows operating system, and was later ported to the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. In the game, the player controls a team of up to eight earthworms tasked with defeating an opposing team using a wide range of weapons at their disposal. The game takes place on a destructible and customizable two-dimensional board and is characterized by cartoonish graphics and a unique brand of humour.

Daily Radar was a news aggregator and portal site for Future US's male-oriented content, including sports, film and television, and video games. Launched in October 1999, Daily Radar started as a gaming website like IGN, GameSpy and GameSpot, and was later renamed and relaunched in the UK as GamesRadar. The site was run by Imagine Media and consisted of many editors that contributed to Imagine's print publications. A victim of the dot-com bubble burst, Imagine closed Daily Radar in 2001, weeks shy of E3. The Washington Post later noted that Daily Radar was among multiple "popular video-game news sites" to close in 2001, alongside CNET Gamecenter.

<i>PC Accelerator</i> US magazine

PC Accelerator (PCXL) was an American personal computer game magazine that was published by Imagine Media. It was known for its Maxim-like humor and photography.

<i>APC</i> (magazine) Australian magazine

APC is a computer magazine in Australia. It is published monthly and comes with a cover-mounted DVD of software. It is published by Future Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imagine Publishing</span> British magazine publisher

Imagine Publishing was a UK-based magazine publisher, which published a number of video games, computing, creative and lifestyle magazines. The company was acquired by Future plc on 21 October 2016.

<i>Broadcasting & Cable</i> American television industry news website

Broadcasting & Cable is a telecommunications industry news website and formerly a monthly trade magazine published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as Broadcasting, subsequent mergers, acquisitions and industry evolution saw a series of name changes, including Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising, and Broadcasting-Telecasting, before adopting its current name in 1993. B&C, which was published biweekly until January 1941, and weekly thereafter, covers the business of television in the U.S.—programming, advertising, regulation, technology, finance, and news. In addition to the newsweekly, B&C operates a comprehensive website that provides a roadmap for readers in an industry that is in constant flux due to shifts in technology, culture and legislation, and offers a forum for industry debate and criticism. On August 6, 2024, Future announced that the magazine will cease publication after its September 2024 issue, and switch to a digital-only format on sister website Next TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paragon Publishing</span> Magazine publisher in the United Kingdom

Paragon Publishing Ltd was a magazine publisher in the UK, which published computer games and other entertainment titles from 1991 to 2003.

<i>Twice</i> (magazine) American trade publication

Twice is a trade publication launched by publisher Richard Ekstract in 1987, currently owned by Future US along with website serves the information needs of retailers, distributors and manufacturing/suppliers in the consumer electronics and major appliance industries. TWICE is an acronym for This Week In Consumer Electronics.

<i>TV Tech</i> American television trade magazine

TV Tech is a trade journal covering the English-speaking broadcast television industry in North America. The magazine is published monthly by Future US.

<i>Multichannel News</i> Technology magazine operated by Future US

Multichannel News was a magazine and website published by Future US covering multichannel television and communications providers, such as cable operators, satellite television firms and telephone companies, as well as emerging Internet video and communication services. It ran from 1980 to 2024.

<i>TechRadar</i> Global technology news and reviews website

TechRadar is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It has editorial teams in the US, UK and Australia and provides news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2008 and expanded to the US in January 2012, holding a splashy launch party at the club Tao in The Venetian Hotel during the CES show in 2013. It further expanded to Australia in October of 2012. It was the largest consumer technology, news and review site from the UK as of 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NewBay Media</span> American magazine publisher

NewBay Media, LLC was a magazine and website publisher founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City.

Nextmedia Pty Limited is an Australian media company which publishes special interest magazines in the sport, humor, and hobby. The company is headquartered in Sydney and owned by The Forum Media Group, a German-based B2B and B2C publisher.

Jon Steinberg is an American businessman, who serves as a chief executive officer of international multimedia company Future plc. In early 2016, he founded Cheddar Inc., a new media company covering tech news and culture, and served as its CEO. He is the former president and COO of tech and pop-culture website BuzzFeed.

<i>TNA Impact!: Cross The Line</i> (video game) 2010 video game

TNA Impact!: Cross the Line is a professional wrestling video game for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo DS consoles, released by SouthPeak Games in June 2010. The game is a port of TNA Impact!, a game originally developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles and Point of View, Inc., released by Midway Games in the fall of 2008. The PSP version is largely the same as the original release, though the Nintendo DS version was specially configured by DoubleTap Games.

References

  1. ↑ "Bloomberg – Future US Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Contact". futureplc.com. Bath, Somerset: Future plc. 2019. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ Cox, Howard; Mowatt, Simon (2014). Revolutions from Grub Street: A History of Magazine Publishing in Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 220. ISBN   978-0199601639.
  4. ↑ "About Imagine". Imagine Media.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Timeline: a history of magazines". Magforum.com. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Future officially takes over Nintendo Power". nintendoforums.com. October 12, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Kain, Erik (November 7, 2012). "PlayStation: The Official Magazine Is Shutting Down" . Forbes . Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  8. ↑ "NewBay Media Buys Music Mags from Future US". Folio. January 13, 2012.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Future plc Acquires NewBay Media for $13.8m". Future. April 4, 2018. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  10. ↑ "PennWell Corp. and NewBay Media acquired by UK firms". Folio. Access Intelligence, LLC. April 4, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.[ dead link ]
  11. ↑ Butts, Tom. "Future Publishing acquires TV Technology parent NewBay Media". TV Technology . Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  12. ↑ Hopkins, Kathryn (May 11, 2021). "Hearst Magazines Sells Marie Claire U.S. to Future". WWD. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  13. ↑ Spangler, Todd (August 6, 2024). "TV Industry Trade Outlets Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News Are Shutting Down". Variety . Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  14. ↑ "netPOWER" . Retrieved February 26, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.