Jagex parent company, Fukong, is considering selling the UK studio

Less than three years after its acquisition, Fukong Interactive has announced it’s considering "the partial or full sale" of UK-based Runescape developer, Jagex.

"On January 23rd, 2019, Fukong Interactive issued a regulatory statement to advise the Chinese financial market that it is planning a major reorganisation and is considering sale of assets, with the partial or full sale of Jagex as a potential option," Jagex representative, "JagexJD", confirmed on Reddit over the weekend, after a link was posted detailing a Reuters report that reported Fukong was considering selling the UK studio.

"A sale of assets is one of multiple routes Fukong Interactive has available as it restructures and, by making this initial statement to the market, Fukong can now begin exploring such options," JagexJD continued. "Whatever the outcome of Fukong’s restructure, it won’t change how you play RuneScape or Old School, and it doesn’t affect our plans as we continue to invest in growing Jagex, RuneScape and Old School, building on our record-breaking years, and ensuring we bring you all the new content and updates we have in the works, in addition to more quality of life improvements."

"Fukong Interactive has issued a regulatory statement to advise the Chinese financial market that it is planning a major reorganisation and is considering sale of assets, with the partial or full sale of Jagex as a potential option," Jagex’s director of communications, Rich Eddy, told MCV via statement. "A sale of assets is one of multiple routes Fukong Interactive has available as it restructures and, by making this initial statement to the market, Fukong can now begin exploring such options.

“Whatever the outcome of Fukong’s restructure, Jagex continues to execute on our short-term and long-term strategies for the RuneScape franchise, which has seen five years of consistent growth, delivered lifetime revenues of $1billion, and now has player membership at an all-time high driven by our living games approach and a successful first move to mobile with Old School RuneScape. Jagex has never been in better shape and the year ahead will see further investment in the organisation as we expand our talent base to create and deliver significant new content for our players, build on our Jagex Partners third-party publishing initiative, in addition to increasing our presence in mobile sector with RuneScape itself."

Sadly, not all studios are in such a strong position. We’ve seen several closures in recent months, most recently AER Memories of Old developer Forgotten Key, Islands of Nyne: Battle Royale developer, Define Human Studios, Daybreak, Starbreeze, Bandai Namco Vancouver, and Trion Worlds, best known for its MMO games. The media too has been affected, with the shuttering of leading strategy guides publisher Prima Games and Future’s GamesMaster and games™ magazines.