FUTURE NETWORK USA CONTINUES ONLINE EXPANSION WITH LAUNCH OF NEXT GENERATION AND ACQUISITION OF CHEAT PLANET
(June 20, 2005)
Next Generation To Serve As Premiere Game Industry Trade News Site;
Acquisition Of Cheat Planet Makes Future Fourth Largest U.S. Games Information Site
Brisbane, CA (June 20, 2005) –
Future Network USA, the leading US publisher of cutting-edge games, computing, action-sports and musician magazines, today announced the launch of game industry news site Next Generation and the acquisition of consumer games information site Cheat Planet, marking a major step forward in Future's online expansion efforts.
Next Generation (www.next-gen.biz) will launch as a free site on June 20, 2005 and provide essential daily trade content to game industry professionals at the development, publishing and retail levels. The site will offer daily news, analysis and commentary, including authoritative profiles of companies, issues, people and products in all areas of the game industry.
Purchased from Echo Software and Hardware LLC, Cheat Planet (www.cheatplanet.com), is the number one online source (by site visitors) for game hints, guides and strategies, and is the fourth largest consumer games information website in the US. The site attracts 6.1 million unique visitors worldwide per month and nearly 3.5 million unique visitors in the US alone [Source: Comscore Media Metrix, January 2005; Gaming Information Key Measures Report].
“We believe that an industry worth $10 billion a year in the United States alone deserves an industry-defining voice—both on the trade and consumer sides—and we fully expect Future to provide that voice,” says Jonathan Simpson-Bint, Future Network USA’s president. “The launch of Next Generation and acquisition of Cheat Planet are two critical phases in our continuing global online plan.”
Colin Campbell will serve as Next Generation’s editor-in-chief. Campbell previously edited and published a number of game magazines and websites, including Games Business and FGN Online
About Future
Future is the leading US publisher of cutting-edge games, computing, action sports and musician magazines, which sell in excess of 2.2 million copies per month. Future’s publications reach a young, active, affluent male audience and rank 12 th among audited newsstand publishers in gross newsstand revenue. Its market-leading titles include Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation 2 Magazine, Mobile, Maximum PC, MacAddict, Snowboarding Trade News, Skateboard Trade News, Guitar World, Guitar One, Future Music, Guitar World Acoustic, Guitar World Bass and Guitar World Legends. Future is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
(www.futurenetworkusa.com)
About Future plc
Future plc was founded in the UK in 1985. Today, it publishes over 100 special-interest consumer magazines worldwide with strong portfolios in the computing, games, music, sports, motoring, crafts and leisure sectors. It is the sixth largest magazine publisher in the UK and last year was reported as being the fastest growing US magazine publisher at newsstand. Future employs 1,200 people in offices in the UK, US, Italy and France. Over 100 international editions of Future’s magazines are also published under licence in 30 other countries across the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR).
