Jagex Reveals Early Plans for a New RuneScape MMO and Animated Adaptation

Jagex has outlined a major new direction for the RuneScape franchise: an early-stage MMO project currently referred to as RS4, alongside a planned animated adaptation intended to bring Gielinor beyond games. The announcements arrived during RuneFest in Birmingham, England, and point to a future where the long-running fantasy universe exists through several distinct games rather than one single replacement sequel.

The still-untitled MMO is being developed in Unreal Engine and is described as a project aimed at a new generation of players. Jagex has stressed that development remains at an early point, with no release expected for at least several years. There is also no confirmed final name. "RS4" is a working label, not an official promise that the finished game will be called RuneScape 4.

Even so, the announcement is notable because of the franchise's history with sequel numbering. RuneScape became known as RuneScape 2 in 2004, then RuneScape 3 in 2013, but both labels were eventually set aside in favor of simply calling the continuously updated game RuneScape. The upcoming MMO may ultimately earn the RuneScape 4 name in the eyes of players, but Jagex has not committed to that outcome.

A Modern Gielinor Built in Unreal Engine

The clearest technical detail so far is the move to Unreal Engine. Jagex says the project will use contemporary technology and design possibilities while maintaining the pillars that have defined RuneScape for 25 years: player freedom, deep progression, and a community-driven identity.

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That language is deliberately broad, and it leaves plenty unknown. Jagex has not detailed the game's combat model, business model, supported platforms, visual style, skill system, multiplayer structure, or launch window. The early concept material shown at RuneFest gives fans a look at the project's intended atmosphere, but it should not be mistaken for a finished gameplay reveal.

Still, Unreal Engine is a meaningful signal for a franchise most closely associated with an unusually long-lived browser and PC MMO heritage. It suggests Jagex is pursuing a more technically modern presentation for Gielinor, while attempting to retain the open-ended qualities that made the series enduring in the first place. The challenge will be balancing accessibility for newcomers with the layers of systems, social activity, and player expression that longtime RuneScape communities value.

Jagex says it chose to speak about the new MMO early because it wants to apply lessons from its recent technological work on RuneScape: Dragonwilds and its established approach to community co-development. The latter point is particularly important for a studio whose games have long evolved through player feedback, polls, testing, and years of ongoing updates.

RS4 Is Not Meant to Replace RuneScape or Old School

One immediate question surrounding any prospective new RuneScape MMO is what it means for the games already being supported. Jagex currently operates modern RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and the survival-focused spinoff RuneScape: Dragonwilds. The company has made clear that the new project is intended to exist beside those games, not supersede them.

Each current RuneScape game has its own team and is expected to continue receiving investment. In Jagex's view, the growing lineup is not a contest in which one game must displace another. Instead, the studio sees multiple ways for players to engage with Gielinor. Some may stay focused on a preferred game, while others could move between experiences or enter the setting for the first time through the new MMO.

That is an ambitious position, but it makes sense for a brand with a vast history and several audiences. Modern RuneScape and Old School RuneScape already offer different interpretations of the same legacy, with separate communities and distinct development priorities. Dragonwilds has added another angle by exploring the world through a different genre. RS4 is being positioned as an additional branch of that family rather than a reset button for everything that came before.

For existing players, that reassurance matters. Live-service MMOs build years of attachment through characters, collections, achievements, friendships, and shared history. A new game can generate excitement, but it can also raise understandable fears that resources will shift away from the worlds players already call home. Jagex's messaging directly addresses that concern, though the eventual proof will come through continued updates and support across the existing portfolio.

Ashenfall Will Be the Starting Point

RS4 will remain rooted in Gielinor and take place during the Sixth Age. Its first major setting will be Ashenfall, a landmass northeast of Gielinor that players have only recently begun to explore through RuneScape: Dragonwilds.

The timeline matters. The new MMO is set years after the events of Dragonwilds and after the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra. Jagex says time will have passed and Ashenfall itself will have changed, giving the studio room to use a familiar recent location without merely repeating Dragonwilds' circumstances.

Ashenfall is only intended as the opening point, however. The larger ambition is for the adventure to expand over time into locations players already know as well as new areas across Gielinor. That approach fits the MMO format and RuneScape's history of steadily enlarging its world through updates. It also creates an opportunity to reinterpret famous regions through a newer technical foundation without requiring the project to launch with every corner of the setting at once.

There is an important caveat: expansion beyond Ashenfall is an ambition, not a detailed roadmap. Jagex has not yet named specific returning places, characters, quests, or storylines. Fans should therefore treat the broad promise as a statement of direction rather than confirmation that any particular favorite location will appear at release.

Twenty-Five Years and More Than 300 Million Accounts

RuneScape's longevity gives this announcement more weight than a standard sequel reveal. Jagex says more than 300 million player accounts have been created during the 25 years since RuneScape first launched. The number reflects the scale of a game that has survived industry shifts, dramatic technical changes, evolving player expectations, and multiple eras of online gaming.

That legacy also explains why Jagex is approaching RS4 carefully. Building a new MMO is a substantial undertaking even for an established studio, and building one under the RuneScape name brings additional expectations. It must be recognizable enough to feel connected to Gielinor while offering enough fresh appeal to justify existing alongside games that have been refined for decades.

The project's early announcement means the community will likely be watching its development closely for a long time. For now, the firm details are limited: it is an Unreal Engine MMO, it is set in the Sixth Age, it begins in a future version of Ashenfall, and it is designed to complement rather than replace RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and Dragonwilds.

RuneScape Is Also Heading Toward Animation

Jagex's expansion plans do not stop with games. The company has also confirmed that work has begun on a new animated adaptation of RuneScape. The project involves creator Charlie White, widely known as MoistCr1TiKaL, and Los Angeles-based production company Lyrical Media.

Details about the adaptation remain scarce. No format, release timing, cast, plot, distribution plan, or specific focus within Gielinor has been announced. It is therefore too early to say whether the production will follow established RuneScape stories, introduce an original cast, adapt recognizable quests, or serve as a broader entry point into the setting.

What is clear is that Jagex sees the world, characters, and stories of RuneScape as capable of extending beyond interactive games. An animated project could offer a different way to present the series' fantasy setting to longtime players and newcomers alike, especially at a moment when the company is also preparing a new MMO intended for a fresh audience.

Between the Unreal Engine project and the animation plans, Jagex is laying the groundwork for a broader RuneScape era. Neither announcement comes with the kind of near-term specifics fans may want, and RS4 in particular remains years away. But after a quarter-century of Gielinor, the studio is making its biggest case yet that the world can continue to grow in more than one direction.