Jagex Unveils Fourth RuneScape Game and Animated Series

RuneScape is getting a massive upgrade. At RuneFest in Birmingham this weekend, developer Jagex unveiled that a fourth mainline RuneScape game is in active development, marking the first entry in the series to abandon the in-house RuneTek engine in favor of Unreal Engine. The announcement came alongside news of an animated adaptation set in Gielinor, bringing the MMO world to screen through a collaboration with animation studio Lyrical and YouTube personality MoistCr1tikal.

The new game remains years away from completion, but Jagex chose to reveal it during their in-person festival rather than maintain secrecy. In a statement, the studio explained: “We could have kept it behind closed doors for much longer,” Jagex wrote, “but ultimately, that didn’t feel very RuneScape, or very us. 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. And of course, as a RuneScape game, integrity and permanent progression will be central to our design principles.”

The New Engine and Timeline

Unreal Engine Upgrade

The move to Unreal Engine represents a watershed moment for RuneScape’s visual fidelity. While the spin-off title Dragonwilds already operates on Unreal Engine 5, the mainline series has relied on RuneTek, an engine developed internally by Jagex. The decision to upgrade the core engine signals a fundamental shift in how the franchise approaches its visual presentation. Jagex has not specified whether the new game will run Unreal Engine 5 or the upcoming Unreal Engine 6, which is scheduled for late 2027.

Development Timeline

Development remains in the early stages. The studio has indicated the game is “still a few years away,” offering only a teaser animation to showcase its intentions rather than gameplay footage or more concrete release windows. This measured approach allows Jagex time to synthesize lessons learned from both Dragonwilds’ engine transition and the long history of community co-development that has shaped both the original RuneScape and its legacy counterpart.

Design Philosophy and Lessons Learned

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Jagex framed the new game as an opportunity to apply everything the studio has learned across its existing titles. The emphasis on integrity and permanent progression as central design pillars suggests the developers are committed to preserving what makes RuneScape distinct in a crowded MMO landscape. Rather than abandoning the principles that sustain the existing games, the new entry appears positioned to honor them while delivering a modernized experience.

The studio’s statement reveals a willingness to learn from player feedback. Community co-development has become a defining characteristic of RuneScape, with Old School RuneScape in particular driving many design decisions through polling and direct player input. This philosophy will apparently extend to the new game, even as a fresh engine and visual style differentiate it from its predecessors.

Supporting Multiple Games Simultaneously

Sustaining Three Active Titles

Few MMO franchises maintain multiple active titles alongside one another with genuine developer support. RuneScape stands as an outlier in this regard. The three existing games (the original RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and Dragonwilds) each receive regular updates and community attention. Adding a fourth game, one with modern graphics and engine technology, introduces complexity to Jagex’s already divided development resources.

Old School’s Enduring Appeal

Old School RuneScape, based on a 2007 build of the 2001 original, has become the most visible and populated of the three current entries. Its enduring appeal rests partly on its deliberately antiquated presentation. The question facing Jagex is whether players will embrace a modernized, high-fidelity RuneScape experience when the charm and nostalgic appeal of the older visual style has proven so durable. The studio has never attempted to answer this directly. This new game will be the first such test.

Running parallel titles demands careful balance. Each game requires engine support, content updates, and community management. The new mainline game will not cannibalize support for the existing titles, according to Jagex’s pledge. Whether the player base will embrace yet another RuneScape variant, or whether development resources will eventually have to be reallocated as the new entry matures, remains to be seen.

Bringing Gielinor to Animation

Lyrical’s Animated Adaptation

Beyond the fourth game, Jagex announced its entry into cross-media adaptation. The studio has partnered with Lyrical, an animation studio behind titles including “How To Blow Up A Pipeline,” “Onslaught,” and the upcoming “Bloodborne” film. This collaboration places RuneScape’s cartoon in the hands of a studio with demonstrated capability in adapting complex IP for animation.

MoistCr1tikal’s Involvement

The project has recruited Charlie White, known professionally as MoistCr1tikal, to serve as the face of the adaptation. White commands a massive following on YouTube, where his content spanning commentary, gaming, and entertainment coverage has garnered millions of subscribers. His involvement signals Jagex’s strategy to tap established YouTube personality rather than rely solely on traditional animation or voice acting talent.

The cartoon’s scope and release timeline remain unclear. Lyrical’s involvement with the Bloodborne adaptation suggests the studio may prioritize quality and fidelity to source material over rapid production cycles. How RuneScape’s world and characters translate to animation, and what role MoistCr1tikal’s personal brand will play beyond the announcement phase, has not been detailed.

The Path Forward

Jagex’s dual announcements suggest ambitions that extend beyond traditional game development. By entering the animated adaptation space while simultaneously engineering a next-generation mainline game, the studio is hedging its bets across multiple media and timescales. The fourth RuneScape game won’t arrive for years, but the cartoon project could theoretically reach audiences sooner, serving as a cultural bridge to bring new players into the franchise’s world.

The challenge ahead involves maintaining three active games while shepherding a fourth into production and an animated series into existence. For a studio that has sustained RuneScape across more than two decades of internet history, the complexity is substantial but not unprecedented. Whether the new game justifies the resources diverted toward it, and whether animation can drive meaningful engagement for an MMO with a long tail of dedicated players, will determine the success of this ambitious expansion.

Source: Kotaku