Jagex, the UK-based developer of long-running MMO RuneScape, are under new ownership, as the US-based Macarthur Fortune Holding have acquired the company for $530 million via its Platinum Fortune fund.
The studio had been under the ownership of Shanghai Hongtou Network Technology, a part of Chinese games giant Fukong Interactive Entertainment. Incidentally, Platinum Fortune has also bought up Hongtou Network as part of the deal.
Jagex had been bought by Fukong in 2016, buying up all existing investment in the company for $300 million at the time. However, the last year has seen repeated speculation that Jagex was being sold to Platinum Fortune. This was denied not once, but twice by Jagex, though a deal was clearly on the table (and at the exact same $530 million price, no less) as Fukong sought to restructure it finances.
While the Reddit community speculated Platinum to be a Fukong shell company at the time, this turned out to be baseless rumour. So now that it’s under US ownership, I guess we can put any conspiracy theories about Chinese data gathering and influence to rest, eh?
Now was a good time for Fukong to sell though, with Jagex riding high on a 2019 that saw a high of 1.1 million subscribers across both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. This was in addition to Old School reaching eight million installs on mobile since its October 2018 launch.
RuneScape has also just been bolstered by a brand new Archaeology expansion in March, adding a new skill to the game for the first time in almost half a decade and kicking off a fresh wave of narrative content for players to pour over.
Announcing those positive figures in January, CEO Phil Mansell said, “We hit exciting milestones, welcomed more members and players to the games than at any point in their 19-year history, achieved significant success on mobile and saw notable industry talent joining our established teams to steer the future for our living games. We’re delighted and deeply appreciate the dedication of our staff and fans.”
Source: Jagex via GI.biz
