Jagex —one of the leading games developers and publishers in the UK— announced the acquisition of US-based developer Pipework Studios. The studio has nearly 200 employees per its official LinkedIn page and they had worked with gaming giants in the past; Microsoft, Sony, Activision Blizzard and Square Enix to name a few.
The British games and publishing company has a number of games in its portfolio, however, RuneScape is its flagship title. Jagex mainly stands out with its massive experience in GaaS (games-as-a-service) and some third-party publishing deals. Jagex was acquired by Carlyle back in 2021 to support the firm’s growth. The acquisition of Pipeworks will serve that purpose, extending the company’s footprint in the US.
Phil Mansell, CEO of Jagex shared the welcome message below after the acquisition was made official:
“We are delighted to welcome Pipeworks into the Jagex Family. 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.”
Lindsay Gupton, CEO of Pipeworks Studios said this new opportunity will allow “the studio level up once again” and the new partnership will yield positive results for both companies. Gupton added:
“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.”
Michael Wand, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners advisory team also commented on the partnership:
“In January 2021, Carlyle acquired Jagex to support the next phase of the company’s growth, including maintaining a focus on its core RuneScape franchise while further diversifying the business and its portfolio. The acquisition of Pipeworks is in line with this strategy, and we are delighted to support Jagex with this transaction.”
The terms of the acquisition weren’t shared, hence Mobidictum isn’t able to provide set-in-stone numbers of this deal. This week has seen some more major acquisitions. Sony finally closed the deal and officially welcomed Bungie and also acquired the esports platform Repeat.gg.
