Xbox 360: The Official Magazine

24/03/11 - Future, the UK’s leading games media group, today announces a raft of new appointments on Xbox 360: The Official Magazine (OXM), the UK’s biggest-selling games magazine.

Joining as Staff Writer is games industry legend Jon Blyth, whose CV includes The Guardian, PC Zone, Charlie Brooker’s production company Zeppotron and books TV Go Home and The Law Of The Playground, both of which have been made into TV series. The winner of multiple Games Media Awards, Jon returns to Future to bring his award-winning writing and video skills to OXM’s unique combination of print, online and video content.

Also appointed as Staff Writer is Matt Lees. He joins OXM from Frank PR, where he worked on numerous Activision titles including coordinating last year’s European launch of Call Of Duty: Black Ops.

The new Online Editor is Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, coming to OXM from Kikizo where he was Network Editor across seven games websites. He previously worked at AOL where he launched and maintained Flytrap Games.

Mike Channell is promoted from Reviews Editor to Deputy Editor. Since joining Xbox 360: The Official Magazine in 2008 from PC Format, Mike has worked tirelessly to deliver widely-respected editorial coverage, and has become a familiar face as regular host of the OXM Report on Xbox Live. He won a Games Media Award for Rising Star in 2009.

“I’m delighted to be leading such a supremely talented team,” said Editor Jon Hicks. “Their proven ability in all forms of editorial will be a tremendous asset in our plans to further develop OXM this year. The ongoing success of both the magazine and the Xbox 360 mean we’ve got a huge and loyal audience, and we’ll be delivering new and exciting coverage to them in print and beyond.”

Simon Maxwell, Group Publisher for Future’s Entertainment portfolio, added:

“These appointments are fantastic news for the readers of the UK’s biggest games magazine. OXM has had a very strong start to 2011, and the combined expertise and experience of the new team will ensure that it continues to go from strength to strength across all platforms.”

Launched in 2001, Xbox 360: The Official Magazine is the UK’s biggest-selling games magazine and the only games media brand available in print, online and on Xbox Live. Offering unrivalled industry access and award-winning writing, it’s available on newsstands every month, on Inside Xbox every week, and daily on www.oxm.co.uk.

About Future

Future plc is an international special-interest media group that is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR).  Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today we have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating over 180 special-interest publications, websites and events for people who are passionate about their interests.  We hold strong multi-media market positions in games, technology, film, music, cycling, automotive and crafts.  Our biggest-selling magazines include Total Film, T3, Classic Rock, Digital Camera, Guitar World, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Nintendo Power, Maximum PC and MacLife.  Our websites include gamesradar.com, bikeradar.com, techradar.com, musicradar.com, dailyradar.com and photoradar.com.  Future produces nearly 4 million magazines each month; we attract more than 27 million unique visitors to our websites; and we host 27 annual live events that attract hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts.  In addition, Future exports, syndicates or licenses its publications to 90 countries internationally, making us the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of monthly magazines.