Anyone familiar with Eugene knows that it’s a significant hub in terms of game development. And one of the primary players in that community has been Pipeworks, a studio founded at the turn of the century that boasts titles like Madden NFL and the update to Terraria among their work. Now, they’ve become the first acquisition of Jagex, which is perhaps best known for RuneScape.
The acquisition follows a strong period of growth for Jagex. Establishing itself as a leader in community-driven games, Jagex has recorded five years of record games-as-a-service revenues, a series of third-party publishing deals and its highest ever RuneScape franchise membership. In 2021, global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) acquired Jagex, to support the company’s growth strategy, including M&A.
“We are delighted to welcome Pipeworks into the Jagex Family,” said Phil Mansell, CEO of Jagex. “Pipeworks presents an incredible opportunity to bring onboard world-class game development talent. The studio brings elite-level game development expertise, specifically in AAA games-as-a-service, with an exemplary track record of collaborations with the world’s best game creators. Lindsay (CEO of Pipeworks) and his team have been running a successful and profitable group for many years, and we look forward to working together to publish Pipeworks’ developed IP and accelerate its growth.”
“This is an opportunity for us to level up once again because we each bring our own distinct experiences to the partnership,” said Lindsay Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks Studios. “Jagex’s approach of providing a leading platform for developers to create lasting and content-rich community-driven games fully aligns with Pipeworks’ work-for-hire model and focus on building innovative games and technology.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
For more information, see the joint press release from Pipeworks and Jagex.
