RuneScape 4 Is Real and Built in Unreal. It began as a Dragonwilds expansion, it is years away, and Jagex chose to build it in public, the opposite of Riot's silent MMO.

What Happened

Jagex announced an entirely new RuneScape MMO in Unreal Engine, set years after Dragonwilds and still several years from release.

The announcement

• A new RuneScape. Jagex, the studio behind the 25-year-old MMO RuneScape, announced RS4, an entirely new RuneScape MMORPG, on October 3 at RuneFest, its fan convention in Birmingham.
• Working title. RS4, also written RuneScape 4, is a working title, not the final name.
• Unreal Engine. It is built in Unreal Engine, the commercial engine from Epic Games, and Jagex says it is a few years away from release.
• Shown this early. Jagex says it announced now because “our games are at their best when we build with you, not just for you.”
• Same night. About half an hour earlier, Jagex announced RuneScape Reignited, a fresh-start relaunch of the current game.

The game

• Gielinor, Sixth Age. RS4 is set in Gielinor, RuneScape's world, during the Sixth Age, the era of its timeline the new game picks up in.
• Starts in Ashenfall. It opens in Ashenfall, the continent introduced in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Jagex's survival game, years after the Dragon Queen Kuldra was destroyed.
• Began as an expansion. Jesse America, executive producer on Dragonwilds, said RS4 started as a Dragonwilds expansion until the prototypes “pointed at a completely different scope.”
• Nothing locked. Platforms, membership, combat and skills are all undecided.
• Two principles. Jagex says “integrity and permanent progression will be central to our design principles.”
• Not a replacement. Jagex says RS4 “is not a replacement for any of our games.” RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, its other live MMO, and Dragonwilds each keep a dedicated team.

The Teaser

A roughly 90-second concept teaser shows dragon riders over a painterly city and speaks straight to the player.

• Concept, not gameplay. The teaser runs roughly 90 seconds of concept work: dragon riders flying over a painterly city.
• Talks to you. At 0:38 a voice greets the viewer: “Oh, and there you are, adventurer. Welcome to the city. All your friends are already here.”
• Gear up first. At 0:51 it continues: “Come on, let's trade that rubbish in and get you something better.”
• A city of trade. At 1:04 it closes on “You can find pretty much anything here.”

My read on that script: friends already waiting, a trade before any quest, a city that sells everything. Jagex opened its pitch on the social hub, not a lone hero.

What This Means for the Riot MMO

RS4 is the closest structural twin Riot's MMO has, and Jagex is announcing it the opposite way.

• Same blueprint. An old world rebuilt as a brand-new Unreal Engine MMO, years from launch, beside live games it promises not to replace. Riot is building the same shape.
• Same engine. Riot's MMO job listings have named Unreal Engine, Niagara and Control Rig, Unreal's effects and animation tools, so the art comparison starts on day one.
• Opposite playbooks. Jagex showed concept art years out. Riot has kept its MMO dark since Marc Merrill, Riot's co-founder, announced the reset in March 2024.
• Open by habit. Building in public fits a studio that made the fan tool everyone uses official, while Riot spent July telling trackers to stand down.
• Integrity, named. Integrity heads RS4's design principles at the studio that deleted 298 microtransactions from RuneScape and absorbed the revenue hit.
• The replacement promise. Jagex had to tell its players RS4 replaces nothing. Riot will owe League players the same answer.
• Shared talent. Reece Warrender, a Sr. Principal QA Engineer on Riot's MMO, was previously RuneScape QA Lead at Jagex.

Our read. RS4 is the live test of whether announcing years early earns patience or burns it. It also shows how a franchise's veterans take a “next” game arriving beside the one they play. Riot gets to watch both answers before it has to give its own.

Your Take

Reported from Gematsu and corroborating coverage. The MMO read is ours and clearly speculative. Analysis by RuneGrove.