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Jagex

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Jagex Ltd.
Company typePrivate
IndustryInteractive entertainment, MMORPG, Software consultancy and supply.[1]
FoundedDecember 2001 (used as a trading name since 1999)
HeadquartersCambridge, United Kingdom
Key people
Mark Gerhard, Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, Constant Tedder, Geoff Iddison.[2][3]
ProductsRuneScape
RuneScape Classic
FunOrb
Number of employees
350+[4]
Websitehttp://www.jagex.com/

Jagex Ltd. (or Jagex Software/JAGeX) is a producer of online computer games based in Cambridge, UK. It is most well known for the three versions of its RuneScape MMO, as well as for having produced the FunOrb games site and developing the 'to be released' MechScape MMO. Jagex has over 400 employees, with all content development, management, and customer support being provide 'in house'.

The Company produces games exclusively written using the Java language, its name standing for "JAva Gaming EXperts"[5]. It has received a number of awards for its achievements and is one of the highest profile developers in the UK.

History

After initially creating the Jagex name and logo for their projects Andrew Gower and Paul Gower began trading under the Jagex name in 1999,[6] describing Jagex Software as a "small software company based in England who specialise in producing top-quality Java-games for webpages".[7] That same year, he began work on the MMORPG RuneScape alongside his brother Paul Gower. RuneScape was released in January 2001. In December of that year, Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, and Constant Tedder launched Jagex in its current incarnation, with Constant Tedder as its CEO.[5] Jagex Ltd formally acquired the Jagex name from Andrew Gower in 2001.

File:Jagex original logo.png
'The Jagex name and logo was originally used by Jagex founder Andrew Gower for his Java/JAGeX Audio+Graphics Extension.'

One year after its release, 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,[5] making RuneScape one of the largest Java pay to play games in the world.

As RuneScape's popularity grew, so did Jagex. By December 11, 2003, RuneScape had 65,000 paying members, and Jagex had 29 employees.[8] As of May 4, 2007, RuneScape has over 6,000,000 active free accounts and over 1,000,000 active pay-to-play subscribers,[9] and Jagex currently has over 400 employees. 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 2005.[10] The company had been self-funded before this investment.

On October 23, 2007, Geoff Iddison, former European CEO of PayPal, replaced Constant Tedder as CEO in order to "accelerate international growth".[11] Since Geoff Iddison was appointed, Jagex has appeared in the press far more frequently than it had under Tedder.[citation needed]

On February 27, 2008, Jagex released FunOrb, an online mini-games portal, with 18 launch games. Like RuneScape, FunOrb is written in Java and can be played from a browser.[12]

A "High Detail" version of RuneScape was launched as a "Live Beta" on July 1, 2008.[13]

On July 25, 2008, Jagex released its first novel - RuneScape: Betrayal at Falador,[14] written by TS Church. To promote its release 10 of the pre-ordered copies were signed by TS Church, Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, former Jagex CEO Geoff Iddison and the cover artist. The book was published by Babel Interactive Ltd of Worcestershire.

Iddison resigned as CEO in January 2009, and was replaced by Mark Gerhard, who had been the Chief Technical Officer for Jagex before his appointment.[15]

Future Development

In 2008 former Jagex CEO Geoff Iddison stated that RuneScape "will be the main investment focus for Jagex for the next five years".[16] Jagex has registered UK trademarks and various related domain names for the term "MechScape".[17] Jagex's Head of MechScape, Henrique Olifiers, announced at the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit that MechScape was a new MMO that Jagex were working on, expected in the first quarter of 2009. He claims it will be browser-based like RuneScape, but one or two steps beyond RuneScape HD's level of technology. It will have a science fiction theme and be aimed at an older audience.[18] In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Iddison stated that Jagex have "got a very, very big investment into another MMO" and that it is expected to be released "early next year, Q1 2009" - when asked if it was the MechScape brand, he replied "I can't say too much more, I'm afraid".[19] On 18 June Iddison announced at the GameHorizon conference that Jagex had "a brand new MMO due for launch in March 2009", although more recent statements places the estimated release as "Spring 2009".[20]

As well as working on completely new projects, Jagex continues to develop its existing services. In relation to FunOrb, Jagex continues to release new games and intends to expand into the mobile phone games market.[21] In relation to RuneScape, Jagex continues to release new game content and has released versions of RuneScape in French[22][23] and German,[24][25] as well as working on a Portuguese version.[26] Jagex have also spoken of plans for a third MMORPG in 2010 which might use micro-payments.[27] Now Geoff Iddison resigned and Mark Gerhard as the new CEO.


Jagex Appoints Mark Gerhard as Chief Executive Officer 30/01/2009

Jagex today announced the appointment of Mark Gerhard as the new Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Geoff Iddison earlier this month. Mark Gerhard, who currently serves as the Chief Technical Officer at Jagex, has been appointed to lead the company from 1st February.

Read more at www.jagex.com

Operation

Jagex has over 400 employees, working to update RuneScape and FunOrb, 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.[5] They currently have offices in Cambridge and London.

They maintain around 160 servers for RuneScape in various locations around the United States, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, Brazil, Norway. Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as several servers for the multiplayer games on FunOrb.[citation needed]

The company has a dedicated Community Safety Team, who deal with any issues related to child safety, real life threats, cyberbullying and abuse.[28] The team operates 24 hours a day and works with CEOP, VGT, and NCMEC. The team also helps educate the players and parents about online safety.[29]

Exhibitions and Conferences

In 2008 Jagex began attending a number of gaming conventions and exhibitions, both to show off its products and to give keynote speeches. Events it was present at included E3,[30] the Leipzig Games Convention,[31] and the Virtual Worlds Forum.[32] At the 2008 Develop Conference they came 3rd in the Pub Quiz.[33]

Awards / Accomplishments

2007 - Ranked 59th in the Sunday Times '100 Best Companies to Work For' list of 2007.[34]

2009 - Ranked 29th 'Most Succesful Game Studio in the World' by Develop Mag[35]

Charity Fund Raising

Since 2004 Jagex has made donations to a number of national and international charities.[36] It has also run charity auctions for signed merchandise.[37]

In 2008 they donated artwork and prizes to the MMOCalendar,[38] which raises funds for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Reception

Overall Jagex is a well-received company, ranking 59th in 2007 and 87th in 2008 on the Sunday Times' 100 Best Companies to Work For list.[34]

In its 2008 intellectual property profile of RuneScape, Develop concluded that: "In addition to being one of the most profitable, Jagex is also the UK’s largest independent developer by staff level, and one of the biggest employers. Its commercial model should make it a poster boy for the disintermediation of publishers and the ‘direct to consumer’ distribution channel in which so many developers place their hopes".[39]

In the past Jagex had been accused of marketing RuneScape towards young children, despite having a 13+ age requirement.[40] However the age requirement has since been removed, allowing players under 13 in the game but only allowing them to chat with the Quick Chat System of preset sentences,[41] unless given parental consent to do otherwise.

References

  1. ^ "Companies House WebCheck". Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. ^ "About Jagex". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  3. ^ "Geoff Iddison's public profile". LinkedIn. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
  4. ^ "Jagex Game Studios - About Us". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  5. ^ a b c d "About Jagex". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  6. ^ "Jagex Limited v. na c/o Kristen Shilley". National Arbitration Forum. 2007-01-23.
  7. ^ "Jagex Software". Jagex. 1999-11-29. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  8. ^ "Rune to Move". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  9. ^ "RuneScape reaches one million members!". Jagex. 4 May, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "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)
  11. ^ "Jagex appoints PayPal CEO to accelerate international growth". Jagex. 23 October, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "FunOrb FAQ". Jagex. 27 February. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "HD Launch: RuneScape HD - Members-Only Beta Launch". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  14. ^ "RuneScape Novel Released!". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  15. ^ "Jagex Appoints Mark Gerhard as Chief Executive Officer". Jagex. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  16. ^ Mark Ward (2007). "British gaming firm takes on the world". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  17. ^ "Case details for Trade Mark 2403672". UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  18. ^ Michael Zenke (2008). "E308: Jagex teases sci-fi successor to Runescape, Mechscape". Massively. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  19. ^ Matt Martin (2008). "MMO Week: Jagex's Geoff Iddison". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  20. ^ Michael French (2009). "Runescape developer Jagex working on new MMO". Develop. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  21. ^ Rob Purchese (2008). "FunOrb targeting "every demographic"". EuroGamer. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  22. ^ "RuneScape France". Jagex. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  23. ^ "RuneScape en français!" (in French). Jagex. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  24. ^ Jagex (2007). "RuneScape: German Language Beta Launch". Jagex. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  25. ^ Jagex (2007-02-07). "Hereinspaziert - die Open Beta der deutschen Version beginnt!" (in German). Jagex. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  26. ^ "Translation Team Leader (Portuguese)". Jagex. 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  27. ^ "Jagex Working on New MMO". Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  28. ^ "Community Safety". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-06-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  29. ^ "Parent Guide". jagex. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  30. ^ "Jagex at E3". Play No Evil. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  31. ^ "Exhibitor Index". GDC. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  32. ^ "Jagex CEO to keynote Virtual Worlds Forum". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  33. ^ "Codeworks GameHorizon triumphs at Develop Pub Quiz". Develop Mag. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  34. ^ a b "The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For". Sunday Times Online. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  35. ^ "The World's most successful Game Stuidos". develop mag. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  36. ^ "Charities". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  37. ^ "RuneScape - Signed Novel and 12 Months Membership!~Official Charity Auction! Book signed by Andrew Gower~". eBay.co.uk.
  38. ^ "Charity MMO Calendar". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  39. ^ Nick Gibson (2008). "IP profile: RuneScape". Develop. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
  40. ^ "RuneScape: An Education Kids Don't Need". tom's games. Retrieved 2008-02-10. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  41. ^ "Parents Guide". Jagex. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
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