Jagex

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Jagex Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryInteractive entertainment, MMORPG, Software consultancy and supplyCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
Founded2001 (incorporated 28 April 2000[1])
HeadquartersUnited KingdomCambridge, United Kingdom
Key people
Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, Constant Tedder, Geoff Iddison, [2][3]
Websitehttp://www.jagex.com/

Jagex Ltd. (or Jagex Software) is a United KingdomUnited Kingdom-based producer of Java-based online computer games. The name "Jagex" stands for Java Gaming Experts.[4] The company is best-known for its world-wide MMORPG, RuneScape.

History

Andrew Gower began trading under the Jagex name in 1999[5], describing Jagex Software as a "small software company based in England who specialise in producing top-quality Java-games for webpages"[6]. In December 2001, Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, and Constant Tedder launched Jagex in its current incarnation to "take over the running of RuneScape, underlying technologies and other games developed by Andrew"[4]. The company was incorporated on 28 April 2000 as Meaujo (492) Limited[1], and changed its name to Jagex Limited on 27 June 2000. It formally acquired the Jagex name from Andrew Gower in 2001.

By this time, one year after the release of the game, RuneScape already had over one million free accounts registered. The first tasks of the company were to create a version of the game with extra features that required a £3.20 ($5USD)($7.50C$)monthly fee, while still offering the free version, and to develop partnerships with advertisers. Both tasks were achieved, and the pay-to-play version of RuneScape was released on 27 February 2002. It gained 5,000 subscriptions in the first week, making RuneScape one of the largest Java pay to play games in the world. Since then, the company has grown considerably, and now has over 400 employees.

Currently, RuneScape has over 6,000,000 active free accounts and over 1,000,000 active pay-to-play subscribers as of 4 May 2007.[7] In 2006, founders Andrew Gower and Paul Gower were calculated to be worth £32 million. Jagex received an investment from Insight Venture Partners in October of 2005.[8] The company had been self-funded before this investment. Jagex was ranked 59th on the list of The Best 100 Companies to work for by the Sunday Times.[9] In 23 October 2007, Geoff Iddison, former European CEO of PayPal, replaced Constant Tedder as CEO in order to "accelerate international growth".[10]

Beyond RuneScape

An interview with CEO Geoff Iddison by BBC revealed that Jagex plans "to launch a couple of new titles" in 2008 but maintains that RuneScape "will be the main investment focus for Jagex for the next five years"[11]. Presumably, FunOrb is one of these titles. The CVs of alleged current and former Jagex staff claim that Jagex has been working on a space MMORPG since at least April 2005[12][13][14]. Jagex has registered UK trademarks and various related domain names for the terms "MechScape" and "FunOrb"[15][16][17] Jagex is currently recruiting for Game Content Developers to "build creatures, shape virtual worlds, design quests and storylines for our new, undisclosed game", and have stated that an "anime, graphic novels and general sci-fi interest" is useful[18].

FunOrb

FunOrb is the name of an upcoming collection of small browser games developed by Jagex. They will be written in Java and will include multiplayer strategy games and puzzles. [19].

It is slated for release in February of 2008, and about 40% of the content will be available for free. The rest will be accessed for a four-dollar per month subscription, though those already subscribing to RuneScape only have to pay three dollars per month. [20].

Operation

Jagex has over 400 employees, working to update RuneScape, develop FunOrb as well as any other upcoming projects, and provide support for its customers. They employ a wide variety of workers, including 3D modellers, game developers, customer support, programmers, translators, quality assurance, and managers.[21] They currently have offices in Cambridge and London.

They maintain about 150 servers for RuneScape in various locations around the United States, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom. One of the most recent additions to the servers was the addition of the three German beta servers, which are currently the only servers for a non-English version of the game.

References

  1. ^ a b Companies House WebCHeck. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
  2. ^ Jagex (2007). "Full Credits List". Jagex. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  3. ^ "Geoff Iddison's public profile". LinkedIn. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  4. ^ a b "What is Jagex?". RuneScape knowledge base. Jagex. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  5. ^ "Jagex Limited v. na c/o Kristen Shilley". National Arbitration Forum. 2007-1-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Jagex Software". Jagex. 1999-11-29. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  7. ^ "RuneScape reaches one million members!". Jagex. 4 May, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "RuneScape Developers Jagex Ltd. Secure Investment from Insight Venture Partners". GamingBlog. 28 October, 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For". Sunday Times Online. Retrieved 2007-03-22.
  10. ^ "Jagex appoints PayPal CEO to accelerate international growth". Jagex. 23 October, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Mark Ward (2007). "British gaming firm takes on the world". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-128. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ Thomas Woode. "Thomas Woode's Curriculum Vitae". Thomas Woode. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  13. ^ John Seru. "John Seru's Curriculum Vitae". John Seru. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  14. ^ MechScape Central (2007). "MechScape Central". Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  15. ^ "Case details for Trade Mark 2403672". UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  16. ^ "Mechscape World : Mechscape History & Information". Mechscape World. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  17. ^ "Case details for Trade Mark 2448627". UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  18. ^ "Active Vacancies - Gamer Content Developer". Jagex. 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  19. ^ "FunOrb". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-01-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  20. ^ "From RuneScape to FunOrb". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-02-1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  21. ^ "Full Credits List". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-02-10. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

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