Graphical Theories :: An Article on the Future. Since the release of Jagex’s “An Image of the Future” a week or so ago and the more recent “An Image of the Not-Too-Distant Future”, I’ve been thinking about what sorts of things the new level of detail could provide. As well as the increase in polygon count (which in turn, allows finer and more [...]
Shacknews has the list of companies appearing in this year’s E3. The list is as follows: List of participating developers and publishers currently slated to appear at the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit: 1UP Network Akella Atari Inc. Bethesda Softworks Capcom USA Inc. Crave Entertainment Codemasters D3Publisher of America Deep Silver Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. Electronic Arts Eidos Interactive Fox Interactive Media Indie Games Jagex, Ltd. Konami Digital Entertainment America Lucas
Salutations to ye Orbsters! The imps have been working very hard these last few weeks, trying to unlock six arcane powers for you to employ. They tell me that these powers will be available to everyone, adding a little more balance to the contests. Wanting to learn more, I managed to bypass their defensive sigils and found plans for a dangerous power that would increase the potency of all arcane attacks! With my heart racing from this forbidden knowledge, I moved onwards, deeper into the imp
The time has come at last! As long as the Planet FunOrb forums have been open, there has been the Arcanists League section, locked, with an annoying “Coming Soon” sign over it. I’m happy to say that registration for the Arcanists League is now officially open! Head over to the forums and, if you haven’t already, register an account (It costs nothing, and you don’t even need an email address), and sign up for the league! There are two tiers to sign up for, and while members are confined to the
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Jagex Ltd.
Type
Private
Founded
2001 (used as a trading name since 1999, incorporated 28 April 2000)
Headquarters
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Key people
Andrew Gower, Paul Gower, Constant Tedder, Geoff Iddison,
Industry
Interactive entertainment, MMORPG, Software consultancy and supply
Website
http://www.jagex.com/
Jagex Ltd. (or Jagex Software) is a British producer of Java-based online computer games. The name "Jagex" stands for Java Gaming Experts. The company is best-known for its browser-based MMORPG, RuneScape, and also operates FunOrb, a mini-games website.
History
Andrew Gower began trading under the Jagex name in 1999, describing Jagex Software as a "small software company based in England who specialise in producing top-quality Java-games for webpages". That same year, he began work on the MMORPG RuneScape alongside his brother Paul Gower. RuneScape was released on 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. . The company was incorporated on 28 April 2000 as Meaujo (492) Limited, and changed its name to Jagex Limited on 27 June 2000. It formally acquired the Jagex name from Andrew Gower in 2001.
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, 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. As of May 4, 2007, RuneScape has over 6,000,000 active free accounts and over 1,000,000 active pay-to-play subscribers, 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 of 2005. 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". Since Geoff Iddison was appointed, Jagex has appeared in the press far more frequently than it had under Tedder.
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.
Future Development
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". Jagex has registered UK trademarks and various related domain names for the term "MechScape". In an interview with GamesIndusy.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" .
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. 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, as well as several servers for the multiplayer games on FunOrb. 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.
Reception
Jagex has been criticised for not listening to or informing its player base concerning the updating of RuneScape. It has also been accused of marketing RuneScape toward young children, despite the 13+ age limit required to play. Overall, however, 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.
In its 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".
References
^ abc Companies House WebCHeck. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
^ Jagex (2007). Full Credits List (English). Jagex. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
^ Geoff Iddison's public profile (English). LinkedIn (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
^ ab What is Jagex?. RuneScape knowledge base. Jagex. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.
^ Jagex Limited v. na c/o Kristen Shilley. National Arbitration Forum (2007-1-23).
^ Jagex Software. Jagex (1999-11-29). Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
^ Rune to Move. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ RuneScape reaches one million members!. Jagex (4 May 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
^ RuneScape Developers Jagex Ltd. Secure Investment from Insight Venture Partners. GamingBlog (28 October 2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
^ Jagex appoints PayPal CEO to accelerate international growth. Jagex (23 October 2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ FunOrb FAQ. Jagex (27 February). Retrieved on 2008-02-27.
^ Mark Ward (2007). British gaming firm takes on the world (English). BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-128.
^ Case details for Trade Mark 2403672 (English). UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
^ Mechscape World : Mechscape History & Information (English). Mechscape World (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
^ Matt Martin (2008). MMO Week: Jagex's Geoff Iddison. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
^ Full Credits List. Jagex. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ A Lack of Communication, a Lack of Respect. TruthScape. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ RuneScape: An Education Kids Don't Need. tom's games. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For. Sunday Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ Nick Gibson (2008). IP profile: RuneScape (English). Develop. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
