RuneScape Developer May Be Acquired By An Ore Mining Company

It's not every day you hear about a mining company buying a video game developer, but here we are. RuneScape developer Jagex confirmed to GameSpot today that it is in talks with Chinese ore mining company Shandong Honda about a potential buyout. An earlier report from the Financial Times suggested this deal may have already gone through, but Jagex told us nothing has been finalized at this point.

"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," the studio said.

The UK-based developer categorized the discussions as being in the "early stage," according to MCV. It went on to say that discussions "may, or may not, materialize into anything." If the deal does go through, however, Jagex stands to have better access to the massive and potentially lucrative Asian marketplace.

While the deal gets hammered out, Jagex's existing games will continue to be supported, while the studio's upcoming titles remain in development and on schedule.

"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," Jagex said.

Financial Times reported that it would pay $300 million to acquire Jagex. We will have more details on the deal as they become available.