RuneScape RS4: Jagex Reveals a Fourth MMORPG in Unreal

Jagex is not slowing down.

The studio calls itself the RuneScape Company, and for a while it looked like that label came with a heavy load. Running three games at once is no small thing, and plenty of observers wondered whether Jagex could keep all of them healthy. By most accounts, it has. The logical next step might have been a breather. Instead, Jagex has announced another one: a fourth RuneScape MMORPG, currently known by the working title RS4.

A new engine, a new era

RS4 is being built in Unreal Engine, which already sets it apart from the rest of the family. Its story moves forward too. The game takes place in the Sixth Age of Gielinor, the world RuneScape players have known for years, and it is set a number of years after the events of Dragonwilds and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra.

New players will begin in a region called Ashenfall. Jagex is clear that Ashenfall is "only the beginning," though. The plan is for the game to grow beyond that starting area into both familiar locations and places nobody has seen yet. For long-time fans, that mix of old and new is probably the most interesting part of the pitch. Gielinor carries a lot of history, and returning to known places in a different era gives the team plenty to play with.

Borrowing from the family

Jagex isn't pretending RS4 comes from nowhere. In its own words, the studio wants to take what worked across its existing games and put it into something fresh.

"We want to build on the best of the tech development we've learned on Dragonwilds, and the best of the community co-development we've learned through RuneScape and Old School, and apply those principles to something new," Jagex explains. "And of course, as a RuneScape game, integrity and permanent progression will be central to our design principles."

That statement says a lot in a small space. Dragonwilds, which has its own roadmap shown at RuneFest, is the technical reference point. RuneScape and Old School RuneScape are the models for working with players. And "permanent progression" is a signal that RS4 is meant to feel like a RuneScape game at its core, where the time you put in stays with you.

Very, very early

Here is the important caveat. RS4 is in an extremely early stage of development. Jagex says it is still "a few years away," and it revealed the project now on purpose: the studio wants to shape it with player feedback from the start rather than presenting a finished product later.

That openness comes at a price for anyone hoping for details. Gameplay mechanics are not locked down. Platforms are not confirmed. Monetization has not been decided either. Right now, RS4 is a setting, an engine, a starting region and a set of principles, plus a teaser trailer to look at.

One thing Jagex does state firmly is that RS4 will not replace anything. The studio says the new game will exist next to its other titles "as an independent experience." So RuneScape and Old School RuneScape players should not read this as a sign that their games are on the way out.

Our Take

This announcement suggests Jagex sees itself less as the caretaker of one old MMO and more as the owner of a broader RuneScape universe. Dragonwilds was the first real step in that direction. RS4 looks like the second, and a far more ambitious one, since it aims straight at the MMORPG space the original games still occupy.

The community co-development angle deserves attention. Jagex has built a lot of goodwill by letting players weigh in on its games, and bringing that approach into a project this early could help RS4 avoid ideas that the audience would reject. It also raises expectations. If Jagex asks for feedback, players will expect it to be acted on.

Monetization is the question worth watching most closely. RuneScape's history with paid items has been rocky, and the studio is currently removing some microtransaction items from the main game. With RS4's business model still undecided, it is worth watching whether Jagex leans into the "integrity" it promises, and whether running four games at once stretches the team too thin, even with the players of Old School RuneScape still deeply invested.