It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamer soon became a monthly. In 2005, a general decline in gaming and computer magazine readership led to the closure of its publishers, Live Publishing,[1] and the rights to the magazine were later purchased by Imagine Publishing.[2] It was taken over by Future plc on 21 October 2016, following Future's acquisition of Imagine Publishing.