The uproar over RuneScape’s new monetization mess has a new angle today as apparently the future of UK-based Jagex is up in the air.
According to the Financial Times’ sources, the Carlyle Group is considering selling off Jagex to the tune of a possible £1B – that’s about $1.2B US. It’s apparently hired “advisers” to explore the sale, which is unlikely to fully manifest before the middle of next year.
We’ve covered Jagex’s many buyouts – and the lawsuits over those buyouts – extensively over the years as it’s become one of the weirder game studios in our genre, having been traded back and forth repeatedly between international corporations that obfuscated and denied and disputed the sales, spawning everything from a RICO lawsuit to a bribery-related death sentence for one executive in China. I told you it was weird.
RuneScape’s Jagex confirms it’s being sold for the fourth time in eight years as it talks up ‘forever games’
RuneScape’s Jagex is apparently being sold yet again, this time to a private equity firm for over $1B
Rumor: RuneScape studio Jagex might be up for sale again, the fourth time in less than a decade
RuneScape’s Jagex heralds $143M in profits for 2021, will face RICO allegations in court in 2024
Lawful Neutral: The bizarre corporate effort to buy RuneScape studio Jagex
RuneScape studio Jagex disputes RICO-tinged lawsuit over its convoluted ownership
RuneScape studio Jagex has been sold for the third time in six years against the backdrop of a… RICO lawsuit?
Lawful Neutral: No really, who owns Jagex and RuneScape?
RuneScape studio Jagex finally confirms it was sold for $530M to a new ‘global asset management company’
RuneScape studio Jagex contradicts claim that its Chinese owner resold it
RuneScape studio Jagex has been sold, again, this time valued at $530M
RuneScape dev Jagex is up for sale by its struggling Chinese owners after posting record high year
Jagex has been sold to a Chinese company for $300M
Historically, Jagex denies sale reports for months until it finally confirms them long after they’re established fact, so don’t expect to hear more for a while unless more leaks are sprung.
