Future takeover derailed by Competition Commission

Future, which publishes such titles as PC Format, Official Xbox Magazine and Edge, had previously offered £31 million for the Bournemouth-based publisher. The deal would have given Future almost an exclusive dominance of the games publishing space, with Highbury title GamesTM providing the only alternative to Edge. The company recently bought up PC Zone magazine from Dennis publishing, the only alternative to its own PC Gamer title.

In an email leaked to SPOnG, Greg Inham, CEO of Future, said that the company would be going "Onwards - regardless..."

The news will come as a relief to those in the games sector that thought a total dominance by Future would lead to an inevitable drop in quality. µ

* MORE Gutterwatch here.