Fukong Interactive, the current parent company of Jagex, could be looking to sell all or part of the company according to news stub on Reuters. Jagex, the developers of the popular MMORPG RuneScape, was sold to Fukong in 2016 for cool $300 million. At the time, Fukong Interactive was known as Zhongji Holding and has since changed its name after the acquisition of the UK-based Jagex.
The reason for the potential sale stems from a “major reorganisation” of Fukong Interactive and is “considering sale of assets, with the partial or full sale of Jagex as a potential option,” according to “one of ‘those’ corporate statements” from the head of social JagexJD on Reddit. JagexJD made a point to mention that whatever happens regarding the sale of Jagex, “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.”
The possible sale was announced after RuneScape‘s best year to date, with profits around 110.6 million dollars, 14.1% increase from the previous year. The company additionally surpassed 1 billion dollars in lifetime revenue in June 2018 since its inception in 2001. Monthly active players also took huge leap starting at the end of 2018. All in all, Jagex and RuneScape are currently in a good place financially, and with the value of the game company at an all-time high, it is theoretically a perfect time to sell. Fukong Interactive, in contrast to Jagex, has fallen on some hard times. As of August 2018, the company posted net loss of 475.7 million Yuan ($69.61 million USD).
Currently, the sale of Jagex is not set in stone; the sale of the company is just one option available to Fukong during the rework of their company, so don’t go selling off your party hats and disks of returning for quick buck quite yet. Both RuneScape and Old School can be played for free (just as it has always been) via download from their website.