1985–2012 The company was founded by
Chris Anderson as Future Publishing in
Somerton, Somerset, England, with the sole magazine
Amstrad Action in 1985. An early innovation was the inclusion of free software on magazine covers. Anderson sold the company to
Pearson plc for £52.7m in 1994, but bought it back in 1998, for £142 million. Anderson left the company in 2001. In 2004, the company was accused of corruption when it published positive reviews for the video game
Driver 3 in two of its owned magazines,
Xbox World and
PSM2.
2012–2015 Future published the official magazines for the consoles of all three major games console manufacturers (
Microsoft,
Nintendo, and
Sony); however
PlayStation: The Official Magazine ceased publishing in November 2012, and
Official Nintendo Magazine ceased publishing in October 2014. The chief executive and finance director both resigned at short notice after a profit warning in October 2011. It was noted that a re-structuring would be necessary as the company moved to a digital model. Future announced it would cut 55 jobs from its UK operation as part of a restructuring to adapt "more effectively to the company's rapid transition to a primarily digital business model." The company announced in March 2014 that it would close all of its U.S.-based print publications and shift U.S. print support functions such as consumer marketing, production and editorial leadership for Future's international print brands to the UK. Later in 2014, Future sold its sport and craft titles to
Immediate Media, and its auto titles to Kelsey Media. In April 2014,
Zillah Byng-Thorne (then finance director) was appointed chief executive to replace Mark Wood, who had been in the position since 2011. This acquisition returned most of the U.S. consumer music magazines to Future, with the exception of
Revolver which had been sold to Project M Group in 2017. It bought the
Purch Group for $132m by September 2018, and in February 2019 bought Mobile Nations including the titles
Android Central,
iMore,
Windows Central and
Thrifter for $115 million. Future also acquired
Procycling and
Cyclingnews.com from
Immediate Media. In July 2019 the company bought SmartBrief, a digital media publisher, for an initial sum of $45 million. In November 2019, the company bought
Barcroft Studios for £23.5 million in a combination of cash and shares. It renamed it Future Studios and announced the launch of "Future Originals", an anthology gaming series, a "factual" series focusing on the paranormal, and a new
true-crime show, in partnership with
Marie Claire. In April 2020, it acquired
TI Media with 41 brands for £140 million. In November, it agreed to a £594m takeover of GoCo plc, known for its
Gocompare.com price-comparison website. In August 2021, it acquired
Dennis Publishing and its 12 magazines, for £300 million.
2022–present The company was criticised in February 2022 for the size of the remuneration package being offered to Zillah Byng-Thorne, the chief executive. It was noted that she could receive £40 million if the company performed well. Byng-Thorne resigned with effect from 3 April 2023 and was replaced as chief executive by
Jon Steinberg. In April 2023, the company sold its shooting magazines including
Shooting Times and
Sporting Gun to Fieldsports Press. In August 2024, the company announced that its American trade papers
Broadcasting & Cable and
Multichannel News would be closing after more than 90 years, with the main title
Broadcasting having been first published in 1931 and the merged title
Multichannel News dating from 1980. In October 2024, the company closed a number of consumer titles in the United Kingdom, including
Play,
All About Space,
Total 911, and
3D World, with the monthly movie magazine
Total Film ceasing publication after 27 years. Kevin Li Ying took over the position of CEO on 31 March 2025. ==Organisation==