Jagex is making a fourth RuneScape MMO. Revealed at RuneFest at the start of October, RS4 is an entirely new RuneScape MMORPG, built in Unreal Engine, set in Gielinor and starting in Ashenfall, the continent RuneScape: Dragonwilds players have spent the last eighteen months surviving on. It's still a few years away. There's no beta, no platform list and no release window yet, but you can register interest today.
We host Dragonwilds servers, so a new MMO that opens in Ashenfall was always going to get our attention, and most of what follows is in Jagex's own words.
What is RuneScape 4?
"RS4" is a placeholder. In Jagex's words: "That isn't necessarily the name we'll eventually settle on, but this is our fourth generation RuneScape project, so RS4 works pretty well for now."
The announcement ends with a short list of what Jagex wants players to know:
- It's a new RuneScape MMORPG, built in Unreal Engine.
- It sits alongside RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and Dragonwilds as an independent game.
- It will be true to "integrity, permanent progression, and community driven development".
- It's set in Gielinor and begins in Ashenfall.
- It's "still a few years away".
The engine choice links it straight back to Dragonwilds. Jagex says it wants "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".
Why Jagex revealed it so early
Jagex admits it could have kept RS4 quiet for a lot longer: "we are still right at the beginning of a hugely ambitious project and the game is still a few years away." It decided against that because "that didn't feel very RuneScape, or very us."
The plan is to build it with players from the start, "sharing ideas, testing things, listening and learning as we go." So this is a first look rather than a proper reveal, and Jagex says as much: "This isn't the full reveal". Platforms, combat, skills and the rest come later.
Where RS4 is set: Ashenfall, years after Dragonwilds
RS4 is set in the Sixth Age, but it doesn't open anywhere a RuneScape veteran would recognise. It starts in Ashenfall, which Jagex describes as "an area first explored in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, and a landmass to the north-east of the Gielinor."
It takes place "years after the events of Dragonwilds and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra." That's the story Dragonwilds players have only just finished: the game left Early Access on 15 September, and its 1.0 release closes Kuldra's Saga with the Scorned Wilderness raid. In RS4, "Time has passed, the world has moved on, and Ashenfall has changed with it."
Ashenfall is only the starting point. Jagex wants the game to grow beyond it over time, "moving into places you know and love, as well as opening up new places and stories across Gielinor."
Is RS4 replacing Old School, RuneScape or Dragonwilds?
No, and Jagex is blunt about it: "RS4 is not a replacement for any of our games, be it Old School, RuneScape or Dragonwilds. Those games have their own dedicated teams, exciting roadmaps and continued investment."
Dragonwilds has its own plans on top of that. In July, Mod Dutch wrote that the 1.0 release "is not the end of Dragonwilds. Far from it," and that the story of Ashenfall "is going to be a multi-year journey", with more skills, quests, regions and bosses to come.
Why we're excited about this one
We've watched groups build up worlds on Ashenfall since we started hosting Dragonwilds, so seeing Jagex pick that same continent as the front door to its next MMO is a genuinely nice moment for us, because it makes the survival game the opening chapter of something much bigger.
The "build it with you" pitch is the other half. Jagex credits RuneScape and Old School's community co-development for that approach, and trying it on a brand new MMO, on a new engine, in a corner of Gielinor nobody has mapped out yet, is about as interesting as RuneScape news gets.
RS4 is an MMO, though, and Jagex hasn't said anything about player-run servers. We're not expecting to sell RS4 servers and we won't pretend otherwise. What we can do is keep your group's Ashenfall online while RS4 takes shape, and our RuneScape: Dragonwilds server hosting does exactly that.
What's coming next
- Now: register interest with your email on Jagex's RS4 page.
- Next year: Jagex says it will "tell you much more next year about the world, the game, the team building it and, importantly, how you can start getting involved." No month was given.
- Release: "still a few years away". Jagex hasn't named a year.
FAQ
When is RuneScape 4 coming out?
Jagex hasn't given a year. The only timing it has shared is "still a few years away", with more detail promised next year.
What platforms will RS4 be on?
Not announced. Jagex listed platforms, accounts, membership, progression, combat and skills as questions it isn't ready to answer, saying "it's simply not the right time, or just too early, for us to say."
Will my RuneScape or Old School account carry over?
Also not announced. Accounts and membership are on that same list of open questions.
Can I play RS4 yet?
No. There's no test or beta date. Registering interest on Jagex's page is how you'll hear about getting involved when it opens up.
Is RS4 connected to Dragonwilds?
It's a separate game, but its story begins in Ashenfall years after Dragonwilds ends, and Jagex says it builds on the technology the Dragonwilds team developed.
Will LOW.MS host RuneScape 4 servers?
There's nothing to host yet, and Jagex hasn't mentioned player-run servers. If that changes, we'll say so.
Sources: Jagex's RS4 announcement, the Dragonwilds 1.0 launch post and Kuldra's Saga: An Update From Mod Dutch.