JAGEX Software, the Cambridge-based firm which has turned Runescape into a huge online success story, this week announced that Mark Gerhard has taken over as ceo following the departure of Geoff Iddison.

Iddison, the former European ceo of PayPal, had been in charge of Jagex, which is headquartered on the Science Park and employs 480 people, for 18 months.

"Geoff left to pursue new opportunities," said Gerhard on his first day in charge yesterday (Monday, 02 February).

"He's a very strong business leader and the situation has been very amicable. He didn't share his plans with me, but he's a financial heavyweight and I expect any bank would snap him up - although he may stay within the gaming space."

Gerhard himself is no slouch when it comes to bringing a cutting edge of system security to Runescape, which boasts six million active users and more than one million paid-up subscribers.

Prior to joining Jagex a year ago, Gerhard was principal security architect at G Tech, which designs anti-fraud systems for lotteries in Ireland, the UK and the US.

Before that he ran the Ministry of Data, which ran IT consultancies in the City, and specialised in networker protocol.

Gerhard's remarkable rise to the top of the firm running the most successful gaming platform ever created reflects Jagex's concern that users are able to participate in a multi-player online role-playing game (MORPG) with total security.

"We're putting massive emphasis on leveraging our technology," Gerhard exclusively told the News.

"We also have new games aimed at an older MORPG audience on the way.

"Jagex is an awesome company with great staff and we're looking to build on the fact that we've just had the most successful two quarters in our history."

Read the full interview with Mark Gerhard in next week's Business&Finance.

Published: 03/02/2009

Published: 03/02/2009

This makes me wonder if I can get hold of the interview via a very usefull lit search that from uni!

In Britain do they put the day before the month?

Good luck. I've e-mailed the newspaper and even if they won't give me a copy I might be able to put in a cross-library document request with my Uni.

"We also have new games aimed at an older MORPG audience on the way.

Could it be Jagex is working on more than one game for a mature audience?

Well spotted. It could mean ThirdScape is for older people or could just be the reporter mishearing him (this happens a lot).

Nice to know that he's had a lot of leadership experience which should bode well for JaGex. And I wish him the best of luck, for all our sakes.



In Britain do they put the day before the month?

Nice to know that he's had a lot of leadership experience which should bode well for JaGex. And I wish him the best of luck, for all our sakes.



In Britain do they put the day before the month?

Indeed. And we do too here in Australia. We don't see it as proper to put the month before the day. You can say "March 14" or you can say "The 14th of March. The second is obviously longer to say, but I see the first one as being lazy.

I just checked, you will be able to read the Full article online when the next one comes out (You can browse all their previous issues free online)

I believe this is the website: http://www.businessandfinance.ie/magazine/...al-archive.html

Oh, nice one. Keep an eye out for it folks! It'll be out on what, the 29th of Feb?

Indeed. And we do too here in Australia. We don't see it as proper to put the month before the day. You can say "March 14" or you can say "The 14th of March. The second is obviously longer to say, but I see the first one as being lazy.

I believe it is a Fortnightly magazine, it was realesed on the 12th so Im guessing the new issue will come out on the 26th thus being able to read the previous one with the article :)

*Does the math*. Yup, that makes sense. But they could mean the Business & Finance section of the Cambridge paper and not the Irish Business & Finance magazine.

*Does the math*. Yup, that makes sense. But they could mean the Business & Finance section of the Cambridge paper and not the Irish Business & Finance magazine.

I apologise for this delay, due to lack of space, but the interview is scheduled to appear next Tuesday, 24th.

I got a reply from Cambridge News:

480 employes? wow.

I got a reply from Cambridge News:

Sweden too. I think it's easier to say the most precise number first. Just as with the clock. "21 minutes past 8" is better than "8, 21 minutes past". Lol. And if you want to see if a product is getting old, it's easier to check the first number. Oh, I feel that this discussion is so important so I just have to shut up.

You'd expect that what with them being the best UK company to work for. Even I want to work for them, and i'm sure 6 million or more other people do too.



What's this about Ren? Are you going to get an interview with them?

I agree, it's makes it a lot easier when reading specific dates, however the American way would only be useful for glancing down a long list to see the time of year.

I'm starting to like Jagex as a company more and more, but I don't think bungie will be knocked of my top spot, they are always just so open and cool about things! (Not to mention the fact that there are fan videos and funny youtube clips put onto their site, which I like a lot as it makes everything feel so much more personal and friendly!)