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Jagex hits record revenue as RuneScape membership reaches new high

Jagex hits record revenue as RuneScape membership reaches new high

RuneScape maker Jagex has reported all-time high revenue for 2019 with membership for its MMO hitting a new all-time peak.

For 2019, the company brought in $137.6m (£110.9m) in revenue, an increase of 19.4 per cent year-on-year. This is the fifth year of consecutive growth at the RuneScape firm. Operating profits meanwhile rose 4.5 per cent to clock in at £48.9m.

The company had previously announced that RuneScape and its retro counterpart Old School RuneScape had over 1.1m subscribers during 2019.

“Jagex continues its journey of growth and investment and 2019 was an extraordinary year as we welcomed more players to our living games of RuneScape and Old School RuneScape than ever before, taking the company over the £100m-plus revenue mark for the first time in our history," CEO Phil Mansell (pictured) said.

"Attracting more players and, importantly, keeping our loyal gaming communities excited and engaged for the long-term speaks to the success of our living games ethos. This is the bedrock of our strategy and it is built on putting players first. In turn, this has attracted world-class talent to further bolster the amazing Jagex team and fuel further success.”

He continued: "Following record levels of investment in 2019, we continue to invest in improving the player experience and bringing the RuneScape universe to more players globally. Jagex is extremely robust and I’m excited about our prospects as, especially in these difficult times presented by the pandemic, we continue to connect and inspire players as we head towards the 20th anniversary of RuneScape in January 2021.”

This follows the company changing hands, with asset management firm Macarthur Fortune Holding snapping up the company from Shanghai Fukong.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.