With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.
If you like playing games on your PC, then you should know Jagex -- or its popular RuneScape game. To learn more, I interviewed Adam Tuckwell, Jagex's head of public relations, who said, "Jagex is one of the world's leading developers of browser-based games. We specialize in the development of online games that can be played on almost any PC in the world. Our flagship title, RuneScape, is a massively multiplayer online role playing game that has been played by over 150 million people."
Tuckwell described the company history as follows: "Jagex grew as the commercial operation to run RuneScape. The company was formed in 2001 to support the development of the game, which was started when the founders were university students in Cambridge. The three founders still own the company, which now employs over 380 people."
He continued, "Our user numbers have grown month-on-month from 2001, and we currently have around 6 million active players per month across all of our games."
Jagex has two sources of revenue -- advertising and subscription fees. As Tuckwell said, "All Jagex games are available online, and the majority are free to play." But gamers often want additional content for which they pay. According to Tuckwell, "Our games generate revenue through a subscription fee for those who want additional content for members." And those free gamers must watch ads. Tuckwell said, "For our free players, our games generate revenue through banner advertising."
Do you play RuneScape? Are you getting your money's worth from Jagex?
Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College. His eighth book is You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.
Will Rich Ross really have a positive impact on Disney's movie operations?
Consumers sick of recession, may spend extra on holidays
Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-15-2009 @ 7:43PM
James Worth said...
Good article but it is missing the numbers. I want to know if Runescape membership is sliding or not. Alexa shows that Runescape has been sliding downwards since July 2008.
How many more years does Runescape have to live? I found Runescape using http://www.zybez.net back in 2001, so it has been a good 8 years already.