Over the course of 2019, we covered the news that RuneScape developer Jagex was being put up for sale by the Chinese holding company that purchased it back in 2016, largely a result of Shanghai Fukong’s struggles to stay afloat through the gaming freeze in China. Jagex and RuneScape seemed fine. Then, at the end of June, Fukong announced that it would be selling Jagex to “US Platinum Fortune,” valuing it at $530M US ($230M more than it paid back in 2016). But a few weeks later, Jagex bizarrely denied it had been sold, saying that sale was merely “one of various possible outcomes.”
In any case, it appears both the company name and the purchase price Fukong announced were exactly correct all along, as now Jagex has admitted it was indeed sold for $530M to Macarthur Fortune, which turns out to be the fund manager for Platinum Fortune.
“Macarthur Fortune Holding LLC, a global asset management company, has announced that it has acquired Jagex, one of the UK’s largest video game developers and publishers, for $530million through one of its funds, Platinum Fortune LP, from Shanghai Hongtou Network Technology. Hongtou Network (Hong Kong) was also acquired by Platinum Fortune LP. The management team of Jagex, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, will remain in place. Macarthur Fortune shares Jagex’s passion for video games and is dedicated to utilizing its experience and expertise to add value to one of the longest-standing video game developers through strategically investing in R&D and marketing to attract new players to its RuneScape franchise of games.”
It’s not currently clear what impact the changeover will have on the RuneScape franchise itself.
