Jagex, the game company best known for Runescape, announced that it has acquired Pipeworks Studio.
The newly acquired studio has already “shipped” over 120 games. This is the first acquisition Jagex has made with an external studio.
Pipeworks is an Oregon-based studio with over 200 employees. Its most recent game is the audience game The Walking Dead: Last Mile, which was partnered with Genvid and launched earlier this year.
According to Jagex, the company is interested in growing in North America after being acquired by The Carlyle Group for $530 million last year. It also plans to give Pipeworks access to Runescape’s IP.
Lindsay Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks Studio said in a statement: “This is an opportunity for us to upgrade again as we each bring our own distinct experiences to the partnership. Jagex’s approach to providing a leading platform for developers to create content-rich and enduring community-driven games fits perfectly with Pipeworks’ co-working model and the focus group. focused on building innovative games and technologies”.
Phil Mansell, CEO of Jagex, said: “At Pipeworks, we saw a great fit studio based on what we were looking for. They are really strong in games as a Service. They have been delivering high quality games for decades and have a profitable growing business. This means that now the Jagex family has even greater growth potential, a more diversified revenue range, and a niche operating presence in the United States, all of which help us fulfill our mission of becoming a better player. Become a leader in community driven games.
In addition to the acquisition, Jagex also announced today that it is working on a new, unnamed IP. All it has indicated so far is that the title is an open-world survival title made in Unreal Engine 5. The unit also has plans to expand the Runescape universe.
After two decades, RuneScape MMORPGs are bigger than ever and are now working hard to build an even bigger community, says Mansell. “We’re doing that by continuing to serve players with great live activities and game upgrades for two major RuneScape titles, and we’re also branching out RuneScape IP with additional games.” shared representative.