Every few months, a new ambitious online multiplayer game is launched amid a wave of excitement – until things inevitably fizzle out and the project is ultimately cancelled. Amazon’s lofty role-playing fantasy title New World, EA’s sci-fi action adventure Anthem and MultiVersus, a brawler that featured the stars of Game Of Thrones, Looney Tunes and Superman, have all closed down in recent months.
Against the odds, RuneScape, a janky medieval point-and-click adventure from British studio Jagex, is still going strong after a quarter-century. “It’s unprecedented,” says Game Designer Molly Mason. “There are no case studies for us to look at. The closest thing I can think of is The Simpsons!”
There’s been a lot of nostalgia around Runescape’s 25th anniversary (which officially took place in January) but developers are keen to keep pushing things forward. Last month, they unveiled a huge roadmap of new content that they’re hoping will revitalise the web-based RPG after a few years of divisive updates. “There’s so much excitement about the future,” says Associate Design Director Ryan Philpot. “We’ve been here for 25 years but this does feel like a new beginning.”
RuneScape was the plucky game that could
The original RuneScape launched in 2001 and introduced PC gamers to the fantasy realm of Gielinor. There, they could complete story-driven quests, vanquish demons or learn skills such as cooking, smithing and herblore. Creators Andrew and Pail Gower may have started out running the game from their parents’ house, but it was soon being played in millions of bedrooms across the country. Later, in 2004, the updated (and more polished) RuneScape 2 was released – ushering in a new era of mainstream popularity.
The in-browser game didn’t require any bulky downloads like its slick rival World Of Warcraft, meaning it could be easily played in the school IT room, down the local library or at a mate’s. Thanks to forums and its in-game chat function, RuneScape became a thriving social media platform before the “global town square” of Twitter was even an idea. It also taught teenagers their first lessons on online safety – scams involving the fake promise of ‘trimmed armour’ or being ambushed in the player-vs-player expanse of ‘The Wilderness’ were rife.
“RuneScape has always had something for everyone,” says Mason. You can slay dragons and take on vengeful gods but you can also hone your skills as a chef. Some quests involve the sort of political scheming that would make a Game Of Thrones fan drool, others ask you to hunt down a lost cat. “It’s always had this dry, British humour, Monty Pythonesque silliness and the occasional fourth wall break. It’s stuff like that, that makes RuneScape special.”
But things slowly began to unravel…
The golden years couldn’t last forever. In 2007, RuneScape was forced to remove The Wilderness in a bid to curb the rise of bots and real-world trading that was making the game unfair, but it led to virtual riots. As other online games got more complicated, RuneScape tried to keep up with a reworked combat system (dubbed the ‘Evolution Of Combat’) and “betrayed” players by introducing microtransactions with the daily ‘Squeal Of Fortune’ event. The changes were so unpopular that Jagex launched Old School RuneScape to keep the diehards happy before RuneScape 3 was released in the summer of 2013.
Things ticked along peacefully for a while but in 2023, Jagex introduced the controversial ‘Hero Pass’ event which added paid rewards and game-altering perks. It was eventually scrapped due to backlash but many players had already moved over to Old School RuneScape or quit entirely after the “money-grabbing” update.
Return to Old School principles
Old School RuneScape, based on the 2007 edition of the base game, was only ever intended as a niche spin-off but has steadily grown in popularity over 13 years. Last summer, it had its highest ever concurrent player count when more than 240,00 users logged on at the same time. The average number of RS3 players is around 30,000.
“A lot of it is nostalgia but new players are discovering the game all the time,” says 26-year-old OSRS streamer Goth, who first started playing in 2019. “I did try RS3 but I only lasted 10 minutes. I was hooked instantly on Old School though. There’s just so much to do, you can’t ever really complete the game.” Not only is Old School a lot less daunting to get involved with, you can also take on its most difficult challenges while playing on mobile, making it the perfect accompaniment to waiting for a bus.
The Old School team regularly updates the game, creating an alternative reality RuneScape, but every change is voted on by players. All suggestions need at least a 70 per cent approval rating to go ahead. “It’s a beautiful system. As a player, it really does make you feel appreciated,” says Goth. “I don’t know if the same set-up would work with other games though because the culture of RuneScape is pretty unique.”
Listening to players has been key
The team at RuneScape have clearly been paying attention to Old School’s success. Last year, they held a vote about the removal of all microtransactions from the game, with more than 120,000 players wanting them gone. “This comes with real financial ramifications,” recently-appointed Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy told the BBC. “But with a 10-year view for the business and for the game, my gut says this is totally the right thing to do.”
It’s the start of a “new era” for the game, says Philpot who, like Bellamy and Mason, was a player long before he worked at Jagex. He says there have been “ups and downs” in team morale over the past decade but since Bellamy joined last year, “everyone is so aligned on what we believe is right.”
Crystal first started playing RuneScape 2 when it launched but quickly drifted away, only to return in 2020. Over the past five years, the 30-year-old streamer has maxed her account by earning 5.8billion XP across the game’s 29 skills and completed gruelling challenges like ‘Ultimate Slayer’, which requires players to collect more than 100 different items from a number of different beasties. She still feels like there’s plenty of game left in RuneScape, especially with dedicated communities for outfit-focused ‘Fashion Scaping’. At last year’s annual RuneFest, she won the Creator’s Choice Golden Gnome award for her streams.
“It’s a great game but without the community, I don’t know if I would still be playing,” says Crystal, who met her husband through the game. “It’s a nice sanctuary and even if it’s a temporary escape, it’s nice to have a place to unwind where you don’t have to worry about anything else.”
The future looks bright too
“However, nostalgia isn’t enough to keep RuneScape going,” says Crystal – and Jagex clearly feel the same way. Over the next few months, RuneScape will get a much-requested overhaul for the neglected player-owned housing mechanic as well as its first brand new land as part of an “integrity” roadmap. “We might be 25 years in but we’re still breaking new ground. There are still so many opportunities to grow,” says Mason. Developers are also being much more open about how work is progressing with regular blog posts.
It comes after plenty of worried posts on Reddit about the future of RuneScape. “People have been saying ‘RuneScape is dying’ since the game first launched. That’s absolutely not true,” Mason argues. “We have a large player base but we also want to be around for another 25 years. That takes a lot of effort because the world of games is changing so much.”
“There’s a saying amongst players ‘You never quit RuneScape, you just take a break’,” laughs Philpot. With that in mind, a big part of the game’s design is “permanent progression” which means that achievements or equipment aren’t rendered useless by the next major update. But developers are also making it easier for newcomers to make sense of Gielinor.
“There is pressure to deliver but I see it as a good thing,” Philpot continues. “Anyway, the players will tell us very quickly if we’re ever going in the wrong direction.”