Boy, if there was ever an argument to bring your hard work into a Web based project with the hopes of long term results, I think this would have to be it!

Future plc (’Future’), the international special-interest consumer magazine group, today announces that it has acquired Cheat Planet (www.cheatplanet.com), the US computer games website, from Echo Software and Hardware LLC for a cash consideration of $8.7m (£4.6m) which will be funded from Future’s committed bank facilities.

Launched in 1997, www.cheatplanet.com is the number one cheat site (by site visitors and page views) and is the fourth largest computer games website* in the US. It attracts 6.1 million unique visitors per month, of which 40% are from outside the US. Because Cheat Planet’s content is reader-generated and has a longer shelf life than news or reviews, it requires limited editorial input and therefore has operated on high profit margins. For the year ended 31 December 2004, Cheat Planet’s revenues were $0.9m and pre-tax profits exceeded $0.8m. [Read the rest]