RuneScape maker Jagex acquired in deal thought to be worth £900 million

Private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments have agreed to acquire RuneScape maker Jagex for an undisclosed sum.

While the terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, Sky reported earlier this week that the pair were in talks to acquire Jagex from fellow buyout firm Carlyle in a deal worth about £900 million ($1.13 billion).

Cambridge, UK-based developer and publisher Jagex is best known for its free-to-play fantasy MMO Runescape.

The game has generated over $1.5 billion in lifetime revenue, with some 320 million player accounts created since it was released in 2001.

It plans to release Scum, an open-world survival title currently available in Steam early access, later this year for PC and consoles.

CVC is a Luxembourg-headquartered firm with over €188 billion in assets, including a large sports portfolio, while Austin-based Haveli has previously invested in Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive, among other games companies.

“I’m delighted to welcome CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments as strategic partners for Jagex,” said Jagex CEO Phil Mansell. “CVC and Haveli will help Jagex build on our portfolio of forever games, furthering our aims of supporting and growing our community of forever fans.

“Together we’ll create more of the experiences our fans love, innovate to empower our players further, and build new forever games that capture imaginations.”