Given the rise in free-to-play gaming popularity over the past few years, it’s no longer a debatable fact whether or not the business model works. And while we’ve talked numbers in the past, additional information on the model and the industry behind it never hurts. It should come as no surprise that one of the most popular free-to-play MMO’s is bringing home some serious cash.
Recently unearthed by Games Brief’s Nicholas Lovell, British game developer Jagex, producers of Runescape, are bringing home revenues pushing £38.4 million (~$58 million), with profits of £18 million (~ $27 million), according to the Companies House, a requirement for all British firms.
Jagex’s revenues illustrate a 47 percent operating margin, including the tens of millions of pounds spend on the debacle that became Mechscape. 94 percent of Runescape’s revenues do come from subscriptions, but Jagex is still brining home over £2 million in ad revenue each year. Certainly nothing to sneeze at.
While over 10 million monthly unique users, 9 million of which play the game for free, 1 million of them subscribe to the service each month.
Also according to the Companies House, Jagex shareholders have cashed in over £31 million (~$48 million) in dividends over the past four years, and the company has an active £15 million (~$23 million) in the bank ready to be used for future development.
As Games Brief asks, “Still need convincing Free-to-Play works?”
We don’t.
Tags: free to play, jagex, runescape
