Game magazine house Future sheds 170 jobs after $50M loss

British magazine publisher Future today declared a £30.6 million ($50.4M) loss for the first half of this year. The company announced 170 job losses and a deal to sell off some of its titles.

The company behind titles like Edge, PC Gamer and GamesMaster plans to shut down some of its games websites including CVG and Edge Online, according to UK trade site MCV. All its games operations currently operating in London will be relocated to lower cost headquarters in Bath, England.

Future's year-on-year UK revenues increased slightly for the period ended March 31, 2014, by two per cent to £41.5 million ($69.3M), but revenue for its San Francisco-based U.S. division fell 14 per cent to £7.3 million ($12.2M).

Some of the job losses are from games titles although the magazines being sold off are all in the cycling and home crafting markets. The £24 million ($40M) raised from the sale will be used to fund restructuring and pay off debts, according to CEO Zillah Byng-Maddick.

"Since my appointment on April 1 we have carried out a root and branch review of the organisation, to revisit basic principles and identify where Future derives its intrinsic value, who its principal revenue stakeholders are, and the structure required to more effectively serve those stakeholders," she said in a financial statement. "As part of that strategic review we have decided to focus on the company's core activities, above all around the consumer technology audience."