Jagex has officially announced RuneScape 4
Jagex confirms its next RuneScape will be powered by Unreal Engine
Jagex has announced a fourth entry in its long-running MMO series, Runescape, which it says is in early development using Unreal Engine.
Announced at RuneFest in Birmingham, UK, this weekend, ‘RuneScape 4’ (which Jagex says is a temporary name) will sit alongside the other branches of the series, RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and Dragonwilds.
A teaser trailer was shared at RuneFest, confirming that the next entry will be set in the world of Gielinor during the Sixth Age, beginning in Ashenfal, which first appeared in Dragonwilds.
The game will take place years after the events of Dragonwilds and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra. Jagex wants to grow beyond Ashenfall over time, it said, moving into both new and familiar places.
According to Jagex, RuneScape 4 is still several years away from release, and it decided to announce the game early so that it could be developed alongside its community.
“We thought long and hard about revealing this project so early,” it said. “We could have kept it behind closed doors for much longer, especially given that we are still right at the beginning of a hugely ambitious project and the game is still a few years away.
“But ultimately, that didn’t feel very RuneScape, or very us. For 25 years, RuneScape has been shaped by its players. We’ve learned that our games are at their best when we build with you, not just for you.
“So we want to do that from the beginning, and that means bringing you into the development journey earlier than you might expect – sharing ideas, testing things, listening and learning as we go.”
According to Jagex, RuneScape 4 “is not a replacement for any of our games” and will have its own dedicated development team.
“We think having different RuneScape experiences can make the whole family stronger,” it explained. “Players may spend most of their time in one game, move between several, or discover Gielinor for the very first time through RS4. The ambition isn’t to replace the RuneScape games you love. It’s to make the RuneScape universe bigger.”
