Future acquires Imagine Publishing

The UK’s two largest video game magazine rivals are now one.

Future has agreed terms to acquire Imagine Publishing parent Miura for 14.2m. Imagine’s portfolio includes GamesTM, Retro Gamer, Nowgamer.com, X-ONE, Play, For Beginners and SciFiNow.

"This is a unique opportunity to acquire a market leading knowledge, science and technology content business which will complement and expand our capabilities,” chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said. "Imagine has an impressive reputation with 19 periodical magazines and is a world leader in bookazines.

The acquisition will enable us to scale significantly our market position in bookazines and will see us enter the knowledge vertical, broadening our reach. The addition of Imagine with its strong management team and quality staff enables us to take a further substantial step towards our strategy of creating content that connects, increasing scale and improving operational efficiency."

In May Future acquired publishing and events company Blaze, whose IP included a range of music and shooting brands.