Jagex has revealed it achieved record-breaking financial performance in 2018, with revenue growing by 9.3% to £92.8 million.
Profits before tax also grew to £46.8 million, representing an annual increase of 3.8%. The results capped off a year in which the RuneScape franchise achieved its highest ever paid membership total and Old School RuneScape’s launch on iOS and Android enjoyed more than five million installs.
The news comes after Old School RuneScape won EE Mobile Game of the Year at the 2019 BAFTA Games Awards. The award was the only category open to a public vote and saw RuneScape win ahead of the likes of Fortnite, Pokémon Go and Clash Royale.
MMORPG Old School RuneScape has a competitive scene with tournaments including the Deadman Invitational, though this has seen controversies in the past.
“2018 was Jagex’s fourth successive year of significant growth, with our highest ever active players, revenues and profitability, all while increasing inward investment to power future growth.”
Phil Mansell, Jagex
On the record financial results, Jagex CEO Phil Mansell said: “2018 was Jagex’s fourth successive year of significant growth, with our highest ever active players, revenues and profitability, all while increasing inward investment to power future growth.
“2018 also showcased our approach to ‘living games’ – sustaining deep long-term engagement by working closely with our player communities.”
“This lets us accelerate Jagex’s transformation; we have strengthened our leadership team and will continue to build on the company’s talent base, we are funding new game development, building out our third-party live game publishing, investing in massive publishing platform upgrades, whilst continuing to expand our live RuneScape games.”
In 2018 Jagex also said it grew its team by more than 100 people, while investment in research and development grew by 69%. It also announced its Jagex Partners initiative, which aims to deliver live game publishing and operational services for third-party studios.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
