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Jagex’s Fourth RuneScape MMO Will Grow Beyond Ashenfal
By GamesHub
Jagex has announced a fourth RuneScape MMO at RuneFest in Birmingham, confirming the early-stage project is being built with Unreal Engine. “RuneScape 4” is only a working title, though, and the new adventure is still several years from release.
The announcement, reported by Video Games Chronicle, marks a substantial technology shift for one of gaming’s longest-running MMO franchises. For PC and MMO players, the move to Unreal is the headline: it puts a new technical foundation beneath RuneScape’s next major chapter, even as most details remain under wraps.
A new adventure in Gielinor, not a replacement
Jagex says the new game will sit alongside RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and Dragonwilds, rather than replace any of them. It will have its own dedicated development team, giving the franchise another distinct way to explore Gielinor while the existing games continue.
The teaser places the story in Gielinor’s Sixth Age, beginning in Ashenfal, a region that first appeared in Dragonwilds. The game is set years after the events of Dragonwilds and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra.
Ashenfal is a starting point, not the full map. Jagex plans to grow the adventure beyond the region over time, taking players into familiar locations as well as new places and stories. That gives the project room to build on the setting without suggesting that the teaser has already revealed the shape of a finished world.
For players keeping an eye on the franchise’s current games, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is part of the lineup that Jagex says will continue alongside the new MMO.
Jagex wants players involved early
Jagex says it chose to reveal the project early so it could develop the game with its community, rather than wait until the experience was much further along. The studio’s stated approach includes sharing ideas, testing, listening to player feedback and learning during development.
That’s a notable invitation for a series whose identity has been shaped by its players over decades. It also means the announcement is the start of a longer conversation, not a near-term launch campaign: there’s plenty of development ahead before players can judge how the new MMO feels in practice.
What we know about RuneScape 4 so far
| Detail | Confirmed information |
|---|---|
| Working title | RuneScape 4 |
| Engine | Unreal Engine |
| Setting | Gielinor, during the Sixth Age |
| Release timing | Several years away |
Jagex hasn’t announced a release date, platforms, gameplay systems or a monetisation model. The working title could also change before launch, so for now the clearest picture is a new Unreal-powered RuneScape that will grow alongside the games fans already play.
