RuneScape 4 is real. Jagex revealed a brand new MMORPG at RuneFest in Birmingham this weekend, built in Unreal Engine and set to begin in Ashenfall, the continent players first explored in RuneScape: Dragonwilds. The name is only a working title, and the release is still years away. Long-time players will want to know what it means for Old School RuneScape and RuneScape 3, and Jagex has been unusually direct about that. The project also started life as something much smaller, an expansion for Dragonwilds.
At a glance
RuneScape 4 is a new Jagex MMORPG built in Unreal Engine, under a working title for now.
The adventure starts in Ashenfall, years after the events of RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
Old School RuneScape, RuneScape 3 and Dragonwilds all keep their own teams and roadmaps.
RuneScape 4 revealed on the RuneFest stage
Jagex used RuneFest, its yearly convention held at the NEC in Birmingham on 3 and 4 October, to unveil a new MMORPG set in the RuneScape universe, alongside a short teaser. As GamesRadar reports, RS4 is a working title that refers to the fourth generation of RuneScape, and the game will launch under a different name.
Why four? The original RuneScape arrived in 2001, RuneScape 2 brought full 3D in 2004, and RuneScape 3 overhauled the art and systems in 2013, as PC Gamer points out. RuneScape 4 will be the first game in the series built in Unreal Engine.
In the teaser, a medieval town sits in a green valley beneath floating islands. An adventurer riding a dragon comes under attack from a three-headed dragon while a wizard watches from below, before welcoming a newcomer to the town. PC Gamer describes the look as a blend of RuneScape 3, Old School RuneScape and the Dragonwilds style.
From Dragonwilds expansion to standalone MMO
According to MMORPG.com, which attended a press briefing ahead of RuneFest, RuneScape 4 grew out of a planned expansion for RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Jagex’s survival game, which had been pencilled in for 2027. Playtesters kept asking for something closer to a proper MMO: persistent servers, more players together, social features and a trading hub.
So the team scaled up. Jesse America of Jagex told MMORPG.com: “As we built that, the team embraced that challenge with a lot of creative ambition.” What began as an expansion is now a standalone MMO.
Gielinor is the setting, during the Sixth Age and years after the events of Dragonwilds. In the blog post quoted by GamesRadar in its coverage of the announcement, Jagex writes: “Our ambition is for this adventure to grow far beyond Ashenfall over time, moving into places you know and love, as well as opening up new places and stories across Gielinor.”
What RuneScape 4 means for Old School and RS3
Whenever a studio announces a new instalment of an MMO, players start worrying about the old one being left behind. Jagex has tried to get ahead of that. According to GamesRadar, the studio says RS4 won’t replace any of its current games, whether that’s Old School RuneScape, RuneScape 3 or Dragonwilds. Each of them, Jagex says, keeps a dedicated team, an exciting roadmap and continued investment.
The rest of the weekend’s news backs that up. Dragonwilds, which left early access on 15 September according to its Steam page, now has a multi-year roadmap with monthly and quarterly updates planned throughout 2027, as Nintendo Life reports. RuneScape 3, for its part, is getting RuneScape Reignited, a new character type that starts from scratch in a separate economy, an idea that has already divided some established players, according to PC Gamer. Jagex will be running three live games alongside this new project.
Years away, but built with players from the start
Anyone hoping to play soon will need patience. Jagex says the game is still a few years away, and MMORPG.com describes the project as being in its early days. No platforms have been announced.
Why announce it this early, then? The studio explains in its post: “For 25 years, RuneScape has been shaped by its players. We’ve learned that our games are at their best when we build with you, not just for you.” Jagex plans to share ideas and put parts of the game in front of testers much earlier than usual. RuneScape 4 will be developed, at least partly, in full view of its community.
Between the worldwide launch of Aion 2 on 5 October and the arrival of WoW Forever on 4 November, MMO fans have rarely had such a busy autumn. RuneScape 4 won’t join that fight for a long while yet, and those early tests are where Jagex will have to win players over.
Upcoming release dates and major updates are tracked in our games calendar, which you can filter by platform.