Jagex has announced RuneScape 4, a new massively multiplayer game set in the RuneScape universe. The studio revealed it at RuneFest, its annual RuneScape convention, which is being held this weekend in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Polygon reported the announcement as the biggest of the event.
The game was not originally conceived as a sequel. Speaking at a pre-RuneFest virtual briefing attended by Polygon, RuneScape: Dragonwilds executive producer Jesse America said the project began as an expansion for Dragonwilds called Shadows of Ashenfall. Players had asked for more social mechanics in the survival game, and the team started reworking Dragonwilds to more closely resemble what America called a "typical Jagex game", with persistent servers, high player counts and player-to-player trading.
The team embraced that challenge with a lot of creative ambition and enthusiasm. When we saw the very first prototypes and read the designs that they'd brought together, we realized that the game direction of all of this pointed at a completely different scope. We came to the realization that it essentially would be an MMO, and that it deserved its own game.
Built in Unreal Engine, with the whole studio on it
America said RuneScape 4 is being developed in Unreal Engine. The reveal trailer shows an MMO centred on dragons, which players can both fight and ride. Jagex is split across several teams, but America said the game is "something that the entire studio will work on, all of us together."
Where it leaves Jagex's other RuneScape games
Jagex has not confirmed what the announcement means for its three existing titles: RuneScape, also known as RuneScape 3, Old School RuneScape and RuneScape: Dragonwilds. America described RuneScape 4 as the studio's fourth pillar.
The game is at a very early stage of development. Jagex has given no release window, no platforms and no detail on how it will play.
