PROFITS PLUMMET AT MAKER OF RUNESCAPE

Full-year revenues and pre-tax profits have plummeted at the UK's largest independent developer and publisher of online games.

But Cambridge-based Jagex, the maker of RuneScape, said it was positive about the future and praised the performance of its flagship game, adding that the team finished the year "on a high".

According to the financial accounts for the year to 31 December 2013, Jagex reported operating profits of £944,833, a significant drop from £9.7m the year before.

Gross margin has decreased from 45 per cent to 31 per cent, reflecting the bigger investment in talent during the year. Headcount increased from an average of 472 to 515 in 2013 financial year.

Pre-tax profits slipped from £9.8m to £968,123.

This was on the back of a decline in revenue - from £53.1m to £46.5m. Game income, which includes both subscription and microtransaction sales, fell from £52.3m to £46.1m, while advertising revenue declined from £735,118 to 332,496.

But other income, which includes revenue from advertising and the sale of merchandise, rose from £27,907 to £89,537.

A statement by company secretary R Hodgson said: "During the year the company focused on its two leading titles RuneScape and Transformers Universe and decided to pause the expansion of the Third-Party Publishing division to ensure the two main games were prioritised above other activities.

"Revenue decreased in comparison to 2012 but the management team is pleased with the current underlying game engagement and community sentiment going into 2014, which is stronger than the same period in the previous year.

"The landscape is continuing to be very competitive but the group is positive about the future, given the successful engagement with the RuneScape community and the upcoming launch of Transformers Universe in the coming financial year. The company made the decision to invest further in Transformers Universe and extend the launch date into 2014."

Can't say I'm surprised. A lot of people are unhappy with the game as it is, and the fact that Jagex have released Old School servers and Legacy Mode are proof that their combat updates weren't liked by a huge amount of people. I don't even train combat and I play in Legacy Mode.

Getting rid of the bots will have contributed to this as well, as most were paying members.

That's true about the bots but good riddance, they should run more events like runefest across the country with cheaper tickets, they would get a load of profit from them as it would be accessible to more players instead of traipsing to London.

Yea I'm glad that the bots are gone, but Jagex took so ridiculously long to get rid of them that they evidently became dependent on their membership fees for profit. This, along with releasing combat content that a lot of people hated, is probably the reason for the huge fall in profit.

Ah, so that's why they are raising membership prices

Ah, so that's why they are raising membership prices

Was just about to post the exact same thing :p

Heres the increased membership link if anyone wants it

http://services.runescape.com/m=news/membership-price---important-information?jptg=ia&jptv=community_news

(taken from the front page)

This game is getting more expensive and increasingly more boring...

Oh well at least those who talk shit quit eventually so it makes it better for the rest of us.

Oh well at least those who talk shit quit eventually so it makes it better for the rest of us.

Does it? Perhaps that's why you're paying more for membership?

Quote from: All Lov3 Me on November 26, 2014, 17:15:56

Oh well at least those who talk shit quit eventually so it makes it better for the rest of us.

Does it? Perhaps that's why you're paying more for membership?

I'm not paying more for membership, no one currently a member is paying more for membership.


And, more than that, the price doesn't even end up being that bad, you're paying something like (I haven't looked at what the new price is going to be, so I'm guessing a little bit, but it doesn't matter too much) £7 for a month of content, after a couple of months of that, anyone who plays more than an hour or two a day and is willing to learn quickly will be able to pay for their membership self-sufficiently through bonds.  Which, as far as I know, aren't being changed for membership rates.

Was only a matter of time. They lost a bunch with the bots banned... Not that it affects me anyhow. It's a bit sad to see that new players just getting into RS have to pay more. :|

Prices should adjust to inflation

Was only a matter of time. They lost a bunch with the bots banned... Not that it affects me anyhow. It's a bit sad to see that new players just getting into RS have to pay more. :|

I half agree with this.
Yeah, it's more than before but when relating to other MMOs that have a monthly fee, RS is still less than them.
Notably WoW, FFXI, FFXIV, and ESO. So it is not all too bad assuming the price change does not end up being $15 USD.

Not surprised of this, but at least if you are member right now it won't change so we're good I guess.