Future plc - the Bath-based publishing empire behind such titles as .net, Max PC and Digital Home - has snapped up US gaming web Cheat Planet for £4.6m ($8.7m).

Cheatplanet.com - which used to be owned be Echo Software and Hardware - is a top-five games site in the US, apparently, attracting 6.1m visitors a month.

The site require "limited editorial input" and last year generated pre-tax profits of more than $800,000 on the back of $900,000 revenues.

Execs reckon the acquisition of cheatplanet.com will bolster Future's existing games web sites - gamesradar.com and computerandvideogames.com - which attract 1.2m punters each month.

Said Future's chief exec Greg Ingham: "Cheat Planet is already one of the world's leading cheats and tips web sites but as part of Future we can drive more traffic from our existing websites and magazines." ®

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