Pipeworks Software

Pipeworks Software was founded in Eugene, Oregon, in November 1999 by Dan White and Dan Duncalf, two developers formerly of Dynamix. White and Duncalf assumed the roles of chief technical officer and president, respectively, and Phil Cowles was hired as director of business development. On April 12, 2005, it was announced that Pipeworks had been acquired by Foundation 9 Entertainment, a video game conglomerate company founded the month prior. Subsequently, Duncalf joined Foundation 9's board of directors. By May 2010, Pipeworks had 60 employees. In September 2014, under advisory from GP Bullhound, Foundation 9 sold Pipeworks to Italian game publishing company Digital Bros. By February 2016, Pipeworks employed 75 people and had changed its name to Pipeworks Studio. Digital Bros sold Pipeworks off to Northern Pacific Group for US$20 million in February 2018, and the studio was later renamed Pipeworks Studios. In September 2020, Sumo Group acquired Pipeworks for $100 million. Together with its new parent company, the studio opened a subsidiary, Timbre Games, in Canada under the management of Joe Nickolls.

In July 2022, Pipeworks Studios was acquired by Jagex, developers of the RuneScape franchise. It was acquired by Virtuos for an undisclosed sum on January 22, 2025, with the goal of becoming Virtuos' lead video game studio in the Americas.