Future Publishing
Gaming magazine empire
The UK publishing company that built an empire of gaming magazines including Amiga Format, Amiga Power, PC Gamer, and many others, becoming one of the largest gaming media companies in the world.
Future Publishing (later Future plc) is a UK media company founded in 1985 that built an empire of gaming magazines. From Amiga Format to PC Gamer, Future became one of the world’s largest gaming media publishers, defining enthusiast coverage across multiple platforms and generations.
The founder arrived from ZZAP!64
Future’s first title appeared in October 1985, and its founder had spent that summer launching somebody else’s magazine.
CRASH introduced him in March 1985, as Newsfield assembled the team for ZZAP!64: “Heading up the editorial team is Chris Anderson, who was editor of PCG until he heard about ZZAP! 64.” ZZAP!64 issue 1 carries his name as editor and is dated May 1985. Amstrad Action issue 1 is dated October 1985.
So the gap between launching ZZAP!64 in Ludlow for Newsfield and launching Amstrad Action in Somerset for himself is about five months.
Fast facts
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Titles in this Vault: Amstrad Action (1985), Amiga Format (1989), ST Format (1989), Amiga Shopper (1991), Amiga Power (1991), Commodore Format (1990).
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Founded: 1985, in Somerton, Somerset — not Bath, which came later. Issue 1 of Amstrad Action and the order forms in issue 2 both give Somerton, TA11 7PS, and that address holds through early 1986.
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First title: Amstrad Action, October 1985.
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Key titles: Amiga Format, PC Gamer, Edge
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Model: Platform-specific enthusiast magazines
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Status: Still operating (as Future plc)
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Scale by 1999: 108 magazines, and the market leader in Britain, Italy, France and the United States — as described to German readers by a magazine Future had just bought. See below.
Measured from outside, in 1999
Most descriptions of a publisher’s size come from the publisher. This one does not.
When Future bought the German monthly PC Player in September 1999, the magazine explained the buyer to its readers on the assumption they had not heard of it — “Wem dieser Name nichts sagen sollte”, for anyone to whom the name means nothing:
“Future ist eines der führenden Unternehmen in der Spielezeitschriftenbranche und veröffentlicht alles in allem 108 Magazine, unter anderem die Marktführer in Großbritannien, Italien, Frankreich und USA.”
108 magazines and the market leader in four countries — Italy among them, which is worth noting beside this Vault’s Italian entries, where the British press appears as a licensor rather than an owner.
The purchase itself came in at the last moment. PC Player’s note says the news arrived “praktisch direkt vor dem Belichten unserer Seitenfilme” — practically right before the page films went to exposure — and that the magazine had passed from the WEKA-Verlagsgruppe to Future Verlag GmbH of Poing, outside Munich.
Fourteen years after one man left ZZAP!64 to start a magazine in Somerton, the company was buying the largest PC games monthly in Germany.
Gaming Magazine Portfolio
| Title | Platform | Era |
|---|---|---|
| Amiga Format | Amiga | 1989-2000 |
| Amiga Power | Amiga | 1991-1996 |
| PC Gamer | PC | 1993-present |
| Edge | Multi | 1993-present |
| Commodore Format | C64 | 1990-1995 |
Publishing philosophy
Future’s approach:
| Element | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Platform focus | Dedicated magazines |
| Quality writing | Enthusiast perspectives |
| Cover media | Disks, CDs, DVDs |
| International | UK and US editions |
Cover Media Innovation
Future embraced cover-mounted media:
- Cover disks (Amiga, Atari ST)
- Cover CDs (PC)
- Cover DVDs (later era)
- Full game releases
Industry impact
Future influenced gaming media through:
- Professional enthusiast journalism
- Platform-specific expertise
- Cover media expectations
- International expansion model
Legacy
Future Publishing demonstrated that gaming enthusiast media could be both editorially strong and commercially successful. Many current gaming journalists began at Future titles.