Imagine Publishing was a UK-based magazine

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, which published a number of

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, creative and

lifestyle Lifestyle is the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture. The term "style of life" () was introduced by Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler in his 1929 book, ''The Case of Miss R.'', w ...

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. The company was acquired by

Future plc Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson (entrepreneur), Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was ...

on 21 October 2016.

History

It was founded on 14 May 2005 with private funds by Damian Butt, Steven Boyd and Mark Kendrick, all were former directors of

Paragon Publishing Paragon Publishing Ltd (or Paragon for short) was a magazine publisher in the UK, which published computer games and other entertainment titles from 1991 to 2003. Brief history Paragon Publishing Ltd was formed in a small office in Trowbridge, ...

, and launched with a core set of six

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

and

creative computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format t ...

titles in the first 6 months of trading. In October 2005, it had acquired the only retro games magazine

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering Retrogaming, retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' ...

, after its original publisher, Live Publishing went bankrupt. Early in 2006, it further acquired the rights to publish a considerable number of titles including

gamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a British multi-format video games magazine. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English and German up until the last edition was published on ...

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, PowerStation, X360, Digital Photographer and iCreate, from the old

stable of magazines when owner Highbury House Communications went into liquidation, following

Future Publishing Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

's withdrawal of its offer to buy the company, due to threats of a monopoly-investigation by the United Kingdom

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

. In May 2006, Imagine launched its first bookazines, initially focusing on technology content for Photoshop and Mac. This portfolio would become one of Imagine's core strengths, with worldwide distribution, notably in the US and Australia. In 2007 Imagine launched

SciFiNow ''SciFiNow'' was a British magazine formerly published every four weeks by Kelsey Media in the United Kingdom, covering the science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction, horror genres. It launched in April 2007, with the print publication ceasing i ...

, the Official Corel Painter Magazine, HD Review and Total PC Gaming.

Total 911 ''Total 911'' was an international magazine devoted to the Porsche 911 sports car, from 1963 to 2024. It was published monthly in the UK by Future plc. Launched in 2005 by Rob Mugglestone, Philip Raby and John Francas (under 9 Publishing Ltd) ...

was acquired from 9 Publishing in 2008, and was purchased to demonstrate that Imagine's efficient publishing model could be applied to any market, not just technology. 2009 saw the company's most significant and successful new magazine launch - How It Works, which quickly became Imagine's flagship title and paved the way for the creation of a whole knowledge division. How It Works was the brainchild of CD Mark Kendrick, whose love of 70s Ladybird books spawned a desire to create a lavishly illustrated, simple-to-understand new educational magazine for families. Linux User & Developer was acquired in 2009. 3D Artist was launched into the niche CGI magazine market. Imagine's main videogames website NowGamer.com went live in 2009 also. In partnership with PixelMags, Imagine became the second publisher to migrate its entire portfolio as digital editions on the iPad/iPhone for the US launch in March 2010. Imagine launched the world's third title for the Android OS - Android Magazine in 2011, following successful bookazine tests of this topic. 2011 also saw Imagine embrace digital publishing further by giving all employees a free iPad, or cash alternative. In 2012 Imagine expanded its knowledge magazine division with new launch All About Space, followed in 2013 with All About History and World of Animals. A new digital editions publishing platform - Martini - went live in this year, with all Imagine titles migrating onto this bespoke platform, developed in partnership with Bournemouth-based tech company 3SidedCube. Imagine was featured in the Sunday Times

Profit Track 100 The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 is an annual league table published in association with The Sunday Times newspaper in the UK. It ranks Britain's 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits over their last three years. It is publish ...

lists in 2013 and 2014; recognising the company's strong financial results, including a high net margin. In 2015 the company moved into a new market, with Real Crime magazine. To celebrate its tenth year in publishing, free engraved

iPad Mini The iPad Mini (branded and marketed as iPad mini) is a line of small tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a sub-series of the iPad line of tablets, with screen sizes of 7.9 inches and 8.3 inches. The first-generation ...

were offered to all staff. Imagine's final two magazine launches were in 2016, with History of Royals in April and Explore History in May. At the point when it was acquired by

, Imagine Publishing was a worldwide

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

content producer and in October 2016 it had a portfolio of 20 regular print magazines, 25 websites, 30 mobile apps and a portfolio of over 1,200 bookazines - all published worldwide within the four key markets – technology, photography, knowledge/science and videogames.

Key titles

Key magazine titles published by Imagine Publishing up until Future's acquisition included: * ''

'' * ''

GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a British multi-format video games magazine. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English and German up until the last edition was published on ...

'' * ''

'' * ''Digital Photographer'' * ''iCreate'' * ''Web Designer'' * ''Photoshop Creative'' * ''

'' * ''

Linux User and Developer ''Linux User & Developer'' was a monthly magazine about Linux and related Free and open source software published by Future. It was a UK magazine written specifically for Linux professionals and IT decision makers. It was available worldwide in ...

'' * ''3D Artist'' * ''How It Works'' * '' All About Space'' * ''All About History'' * ''World of Animals'' * ''History of War'' * ''NowGamer.com'' * ''Gadget'' * ''Real Crime'' * ''History of Royals'' * ''boot'' (ISSN 1088-5439) * Practical Digital Video * Windows XP Made Easy * Digital Camera Buyer * PC Home Most of Imagine's publications (with the exception of ''SciFiNow'', which later sold to

Kelsey Media Kelsey Media Ltd is a magazine publisher and trade fair company based in Yalding, England. Founded in 1989, it has bought and sold many publications over the years, including former Bauer Media Group magazines ''Sea Angler'', ''Car Mechanics'' ...

) are now owned by Future plc.

References

External links

Imagine Publishing official website
{{Authority control Future plc 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom 2016 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Computer magazine publishing companies Magazine publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 2005 Publishing companies disestablished in 2016 Companies based in Bournemouth