A Chinese mining company no one’s ever heard of, Shandong Honda, is in talks to purchase RuneScape developer Jagex for $300 million. The news was first announced by the Financial Times, although Jagex has gone on to state that the sale has yet to be finalized.
“Jagex has entered into a non-exclusive, non-binding arrangement for a potential acquisition. The negotiations surrounding the acquisition are ongoing and it remains very much business as usual for the company,” said Jagex. (via MCV)
Posting to RuneScape’s fans, Jagex wrote that the company is “getting attention from the East and the biggest market in the world, China, is knocking on our door. Jagex’s shareholders have received offers of interest and have responded positively to an approach from a Chinese company.
“Jagex is in early stage discussions with the firm in question, but we must stress that they may – or may not – materialise into anything. However, should they come to fruition, it would potentially allow us access to the Asian marketplace to a high level.
“What does this mean for the plans we have for our games and our fantastic community? Put simply, our plans, including the launch of NXT, Zeah, Chronicle: RuneScape Legends, God Wars Dungeon 2, and RuneScape: Idle Adventures, remain on track.”
RuneScape is among one of the biggest and most profitable online games in the world and serves over 200 million registered users. We previewed their upcoming Chronicle: Legends of RuneScape recently, which is set to take on Hearthstone.
