Jagex supports United for WIldlife's campaign to protect wild rhinos

July 10, 2014, New York – Jagex Games Studio, makers of the multi-award winning fantasy MMORPG, RuneScape, has supported a campaign by United for Wildlife, a collaboration between seven of the world’s most influential conservation organisations brought together by the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to help promote the protection of rhinos in the wild.

Starting today, RuneScape players will have an opportunity to show their support of wild rhinos, and support for the United for Wildlife campaign, by learning about the animals’ plight as they answer a series of one-a-day questions over the next fortnight. Successful players will unlock a white rhino pet if they answer three questions correctly, and a rare black rhino pet if they correctly answer ten. During the two week period and for a fortnight afterwards, the rhino pets will provide players with an experience boost during their RuneScape adventure.

Furthermore, two young conservationists supported by Fauna & Flora International, one of the seven charities that make up United for Wildlife, are to be immortalised in the game after having their voices recorded for use as special in-game characters. Trang Nguyen from Vietnam and Mauricio Guerra from Colombia, will provide facts and help further explain the plight of rhinos across sub-Saharan Africa, to players as they move about the game. The partnership with United for Wildlife is the latest charity initiative supported by RuneScape and Jagex, following previous success stories over recent years.

“United for Wildlife is a fantastic initiative that aims to preserve some of the world’s most endangered species in the wild. The RuneScape team is really proud to play our part in this important conservation project,” said Neil McClarty, brand director of RuneScape. “Our community has always shown amazing support for the many charity campaigns we’ve been involved with over the years, and we fully believe that they will continue this by throwing their support behind United for Wildlife's latest drive.”

“As a member of the United for Wildlife collaboration I’m delighted that we’ve been able to combine our collective conservation aims with RuneScape’s passionate audience,” said Ros Aveling, deputy CEO, Fauna & Flora International. “Innovative approaches to reaching a younger audience, who are traditionally hard to engage in conservation, are vital to the success of United for Wildlife and to the protection of critically endangered wildlife.”

About Jagex
Starting in 2001 with their flagship free-to-play adventure game, RuneScape, Jagex has created a long-standing reputation for crafting the world’s best online games services. Today they stand as the UK’s largest independent games developers and publishers. With over 40 titles published to date, Jagex prides itself on developing and publishing hugely popular, accessible, free-to-play online games for millions of players globally. For more information please visit www.Jagex.com.

About RuneScape
Venture forth into the rich and immersive medieval fantasy world of Gielinor, where even the smallest of actions affect the vast world around you. Recognised repeatedly by Guinness World Records as the world’s most popular free-to-play MMORPG, with over 200 million players and counting. RuneScape offers unparalleled levels of choice to its players, where they can be anyone, slay anything and go anywhere in their own unique open world adventure, all within the browser window. Start your greatest adventure today at www.runescape.com.

About United for Wildlife
United for Wildlife is an unprecedented alliance between seven of the world’s most influential conservation organisations, led by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. The partnership between Conservation International, Fauna & Flora International, International Union for Conservation of Nature, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF-UK, The Zoological Society of London and The Royal Foundation will lead the way to substantially increase the global response to major conservation crises.

Numbers of many of the world’s wildlife species have reached critical levels. We continue to see unsustainable levels of poaching, driven by extraordinary demand to supply the illegal trade with iconic wildlife products, including ivory, rhino horn and tiger skin and bones. Last year alone 30,000 Africa elephants and 1000 rhinos were slaughtered.

About The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry
Established in 2009 The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry has three core areas of focus:

  • CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: Helping children and young people to build their skills, confidence and aspirations.
  • VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES: Promoting the welfare of those who are serving or have served their country in the Armed Forces.
  • CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Supporting communities to protect and conserve their natural resources for future generations.

Their Royal Highnesses intend to use The Royal Foundation as the main vehicle for their philanthropic activities and hope it will become a leading investor, effectively using its time and resources to create lasting change in target areas and geographies. Through seed funding, the Foundation’s ability to raise awareness of important issues, and utilizing its leverage as a means to collaboration, The Royal Foundation believes it can make a valuable contribution to projects and issues of particular interest to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

The campaign has been supported by Playmob, a London based company specialising in charitable fundraising through games.

CONTACT:
Jagex Games Studio: Jon Wilcox, UK PR Manager: Press@Jagex.com, +44 (0) 844 588 6639
Fauna & Flora International: Sarah Rakowski, Communications Officer: sarah.rakowski@fauna-flora.com, +44 (0) 1223 579 491