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Shareholders of Jagex Games Studio, the Cambridge-headquartered developer behind the iconic RuneScape franchise, enjoyed a £30m payday after turnover and pre-tax profit surged, newly filed accounts have revealed.

Jagex is the UK's largest independent developer and publisher of online games.

Accounts filed for the year to 31 December 2016 showed directors paid a £30.4m dividend for the period, compared to nothing 12 months earlier. A spokesman said: "The dividend was paid out to the exiting shareholders as part of the proceeds, which they received during the sale of the company in 2016."

Turnover also jumped from £57.9m to £74.4m, while pre-tax profit climbed to £28.1m from £20.4m.

A statement accompanying the results said Jagex is "looking forward to ongoing success in 2017" and has "high expectations" for its new RuneScape expansion; The Golden City of Menaphos, which launched earlier this month (June).

"We are expecting continued growth beyond 2017 via a slate of exceptional content and new initiative in PC, mobile and virtual reality games, which have been identified as bright sports that can build on our audience's entertainment preferences in the future," the statement added.

However, Jagex said 2016 was "not all success"; its collectable card game Chronicle: RuneScape Legends failed to retain a long-term audience despite positive reviews from press and players. The company said it would continue to look at further opportunities for the title at lower investment levels.

Jagex employed more than 300 staff at its Cambridge Science Park headquarters at its year-end.

In July 2016, the company was acquired by Shanghai ZhongJi Enterprise Group through subsidiary Hongtou.

ZhongJi is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which Jagex said has "created a number of new opportunities" and has allowed the business to "take a more global perspective and expand the reach for RuneScape and future projects".