According to recent reports, the British gaming studio Jagex is apparently up for sale again. The company develops two major MMORPGs, RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, and has about 600 employees. The studio is expected to fetch 900 million euros, three times more than eight years ago.
Original report from February 7:
What kind of company is this?
- Jagex is based in Cambridge, England, and is closely associated with the cult MMORPG RuneScape. They claim that 300 million accounts have been created in RuneScape, which has generated over 1 billion US dollars in revenue (via linkedin).
- Apart from RuneScape, their other major game is also RuneScape, but in a “Classic” version: Old School RuneScape. Both games are available on mobile as well as PC.
- Interesting for investors: Jagex talks about developing “Forever” games – games that are developed once, continuously supported, and then generate endless revenue.
Is it the largest MMORPG company in Europe? Yes, there isn’t much competition among the relevant MMORPGs. CCP in Iceland develops EVE Online, the SF MMORPG is even more niche than RuneScape. From Germany, there is Tibia, a cult game that is older than RuneScape, but not larger.
The larger MMORPG companies are based in Asia (NetEase, Smilegate, Pearl Abyss) or in the USA (Blizzard, Zenimax, Amazon).
This is the new rumor: The current owner of Jagex is the Carlyle Group, which bought the studio in 2021. According to a report from Sky News, they want to sell the developer for 1 billion euros now. However, due to doubts about how attractive Jagex’s upcoming projects are, they have lowered the price to 900 million €.
Who wants to buy? Allegedly, an investment firm from Luxembourg is close to securing the deal. They currently hold a stake in Hermes and previously held the Formula 1.
Eight years ago, the studio cost “only” 300 million €
What’s behind it: The developer Jagex has frequently changed owners in recent years. In 2016, the studio still cost a mere 300 million €. In 2019 we reported on a sale. At that time, the studio was only about half the size it is today.
The 900 million euros being asked now sounds like a lot of money. But it pales in comparison to the sum Microsoft had to spend for Activision Blizzard. That was about 69 billion $. However, the purchase also had negative consequences:
Microsoft lays off 1,900 employees in the gaming sector: “Painful decision”
It’s official
Update, February 9: At 11:32 AM, the official press release came: CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments announced they are acquiring Jagex.
The details of the deal remain confidential.
The CEO of Jagex, Phil Mansell, is excited. He welcomes the two investment funds as strategic partners and thanks the former owner Carlyle for their exceptional support of Jagex.
