# Jagex - House: Developer - Date: Founded 2001 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/jagex/ > The Cambridge studio behind RuneScape, the browser-based world of Gielinor that gave a generation of children their first MMO and, reborn as Old School RuneScape, still thrives a quarter-century later. **Why it matters:** Jagex proved a fantasy online world could be free, run in a web browser and last for decades; RuneScape is recognized by Guinness World Records as the MMO with the most users and, with Old School, has earned more than $3 billion. ## Quick answers **What is Jagex?** The Cambridge studio behind RuneScape, the browser-based world of Gielinor that gave a generation of children their first MMO and, reborn as Old School RuneScape, still thrives a quarter-century later. **When was Jagex founded?** Jagex was founded in 2001 and is based in Cambridge Science Park, Milton, Cambridgeshire, England. **Who founded Jagex?** Andrew Gower. **What is Jagex known for?** RuneScape. **What happened to Jagex?** Active. Owned since February 2024 by CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments, who bought it from the Carlyle Group for £910 million. ## History Jagex began as two brothers and a web browser. [Andrew Gower](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/andrew-gower/), a Cambridge University student, had been writing online games in Java, and with his brother Paul he used the Jagex name from 1999. On January 4, 2001, they released [*RuneScape*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/runescape/), a medieval fantasy world that ran inside a browser window, from their family home in Nottingham. The game grew so fast that in December 2001 the Gowers and Constant Tedder launched Jagex as a proper company, with Tedder as chief executive, funding it through advertising and a paid membership tier. It became one of the few big online games financed without an outside publisher. The company settled in Cambridge, where it is now based at the Cambridge Science Park in Milton. *RuneScape* was rebuilt in 3D as *RuneScape 2* in 2004, and in 2005 Jagex took its first outside investment, from Insight Venture Partners. It also ran FunOrb, a portal of small browser games. Andrew Gower left the company in 2010. ## Notable work *RuneScape*'s world, Gielinor, is conventional fantasy with [goblins](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/goblin/), [dragons](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/dragon/), wizards' towers and warring gods, but its structure broke with the [*EverQuest*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/everquest/) model. There were no [classes](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/character-class/): players raised skills such as mining, fishing, cooking, smithing and magic by doing them, which made [Grinding](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/grinding/) a way of life and turned the game into a vast economy of gatherers and crafters. Because it was free and needed only a browser, it reached children and teenagers who could not buy a boxed [MMORPGs](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/mmorpg/) or pay a monthly fee. The same openness brought real-money gold farmers, and Jagex's fight with them, including strict limits on player trading introduced in late 2007 and later reversed, is a chapter in the history of [Virtual Economies, Gold Farming & the GDP of Norrath](https://www.lanternhall.org/culture/virtual-economies/). The modernization of the game split its audience. The Evolution of Combat update of 2012 and *RuneScape 3* (July 22, 2013) remade the game, and many long-time players wanted the older one back. Jagex put the question to a vote, restored an August 2007 backup, and on February 22, 2013, launched *Old School RuneScape*, whose content is still added only when players approve it in polls. The revival became, by many reports, the more popular of the two games. ## Legacy Jagex's ownership has turned over repeatedly. The Chinese firm Hongtou bought it in July 2016; Macarthur Fortune Holding bought it in April 2020 for $530 million; the Carlyle Group took a majority stake in January 2021; and in February 2024 CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments paid £910 million for it. Jon Bellamy became chief executive in March 2025, the month before Jagex released *RuneScape: Dragonwilds*, a survival-crafting game set in the same world, into early access. The numbers show why investors keep coming. Jagex counts more than 300 million *RuneScape* accounts, Guinness World Records lists the game as the MMO with the most users, and by January 2026 the two versions had earned more than $3 billion. Like [*MUD1*](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/mud1/) a generation earlier, *RuneScape* began as a hobby project by students and ended up shaping how millions first understood an online fantasy world. ## Facts - Brothers Andrew and Paul Gower used the Jagex name from 1999; the company was launched in its current form with Constant Tedder in December 2001. - [RuneScape](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/runescape/) went live on January 4, 2001, almost a year before the company was formally set up. - Old School RuneScape, rebuilt from an August 2007 backup after a player vote, launched on February 22, 2013. - By January 2026, RuneScape and Old School RuneScape had earned more than $3 billion in lifetime revenue. - Jagex has changed hands repeatedly: Hongtou (2016), Macarthur Fortune Holding ($530 million, 2020), the Carlyle Group (2021), and CVC and Haveli (£910 million, 2024). - Its survival-crafting spinoff, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, entered early access in April 2025. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagex) - [Jagex (official site)](https://www.jagex.com) - [RuneScape (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneScape) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.