In hindsight, the recent reveal of RuneScape 4 at this year's RuneFest has an almost inevitable irony. This is largely because Jagex's next mainline MMO started as a planned expansion for RuneScape: Dragonwilds, the hit survival spin-off that only recently emerged from Early Access. In other words, the next mainline RuneScape MMO owes its existence to a game that, not long ago, Jagex insisted was a step away from the MMO.
Jagex's original goal with Dragonwilds was pretty explicit: to be the first step in pivoting the RuneScape universe toward a multi-genre future. But much like how a leopard can't change its spots, it seems Jagex can't really outrun its niche, as Dragonwilds' playtesters reportedly overwhelmingly want features more in line with the MMO franchise. Now, Jagex's response to that player feedback could change the title's legacy entirely; instead of escaping its roots, Dragonwilds may now be remembered as the opening act for RuneScape's next mainline chapter.
0 launch on September 15. Despite that success, executive producer Jesse America stated during a pre-brief of the RuneFest announcement that playtesters of a Dragonwilds expansion set for 2027 kept asking for a more traditional MMO take on the survival game's setting and aesthetic. As such, Jagex opted to push that expansion back and turn it into a full mainline sequel, currently under the working title RuneScape 4 .
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