Jagex Announces RuneScape 4, a New MMO That Began as a Dragonwilds Expansion
Playtester requests helped turn a planned RuneScape: Dragonwilds expansion into a full MMO built in Unreal Engine.
Jagex announced RuneScape 4, the working title for a new MMO sequel, at its annual RuneFest convention. The project grew from a planned expansion for RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Jagex’s survival game.
According to MMORPG.com’s RuneFest report, playtesters repeatedly asked for a traditional MMO built around Dragonwilds’ setting and visual style, prompting Jagex to turn the planned expansion into a full sequel. MMORPG.com also reports that the expansion plan targeted 2027 and that the sequel is being built in Unreal Engine, though it does not identify the engine version. The 2027 target applied to the expansion concept, not a stated launch window for RuneScape 4.
A short teaser shows a medieval town in a green valley beneath floating islands, followed by a dragon rider coming under attack from a three-headed dragon.
The number follows a long-running sequence. The original RuneScape dates to 2001, RuneScape 2 followed in 2004, and RuneScape 3 arrived in 2013. Old School RuneScape is based on RuneScape 2 as it existed around 2007.
What part of Dragonwilds’ setting would you most want RuneScape 4 to carry into its MMO form? For more on the game’s move from expansion concept to full sequel, follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
