Imagine Publishing Announces $3m Investment SpendImagine Publishing Announces $3m Investment Spend

Officials from UK based magazine publisher Imagine Publishing have announced details of new plans to drive the company’s existing print and online operations in the next financial year, led by a new £1.5 million ($2.94m) investment spend. The only remaining rival to Future Publishing in the UK, the company plans to invest in new manpower, resources and research & development. The company currently publishes twenty print magazines such as GamesTM, RetroGamer and PowerStation, many of which are market leaders compared to unofficial video games magazines from Future. The company also operates fifteen websites, most companions to its magazines, although none to rival UK sites such as C&VG from Future and the non-magazine based Eurogamer. In 2007, the company plans to launch more websites for its key titles, including for the magazine X360 and a number of photography and other electronics magazines. Imagine will also launch websites to accompany its as-yet-unannounced new magazine launches, and also a series of community sites based on new technology and special interest. Imagine’s online development includes websites created in-house by its interactive team, externally developed by existing partners and a number of external CMS providers, many of whom are in the process of being appointed. Damian Butt, Imagine’s managing director said, “Digital development is crucial to the future success of Imagine, and it’s fair to say that even our print portfolio is likely to be dwarfed by the sheer size and diversity of our online and special digital projects over the next two years. Not only are we committed to ensuring our already successful magazines are well supported, we also see huge opportunities to move outside of our target markets and into new areas of expertise. There is no limit to what we can achieve. I think we’ve proved that already.”