Jagex, the British games studio that makes Runescape, is marking its 25th year with RS25, an event and roadmap program that sets the stage for the most ambitious evolution in RuneScape history.
That evolution includes a record amount of investment in content development. The company’s RuneFest will return at record scale, and it will have a first-ever major U.S. live event. The company is also releasing RS25 anniversary merchandise. Old School Runescape is revealing an ambitious roadmap with a new raid, a new league, and a new Grandmaster quest.
And Jagex also focusing on integrity for its community in 2026, beginning with the removal of its microtransaction system, Treasure Hunter. With less onerous monetization, the company said it will focus on a strategy of more integrity, more value, and more RuneScape.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Jon Bellamy, CEO of Jagex, also said that Runescape: Dragonwilds has surpassed 1.1 million unit sales since its early access release.
“We will be talking about bringing Dragonwilds to new platforms that Runescape has never been on before,” Bellamy said. “That’s going to be a massive hype moment. We expect the global launch of Dragon Wilds to be later this year, in September. And so that will be a huge, huge moment.”
Old School Runescape and Runescape 3 had 1.5 million players. Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, Jagex’s flagship massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) franchise, RuneScape, has welcomed over 300 million player accounts and surpassed $3 billion in lifetime revenue. And it has more than 500 people working for it now. The big anniversary will roll out over time, starting with summits related to each of Jagex’s big games: Old School Runescape, Runescape 3, and Runescape Dragonwilds.
“We’ll be publishing the roadmaps for all the games separately, so we’ll have really big live spectacles of a highlight at the beginning of the year,” said Bellamy.
Removing microtransactions
On top of that, the company is on schedule to “see 12 years of microtransactions get ripped out of RuneScape, which is going to be enormous,” Bellamy said.
He added, “The feeling in the office already is euphoric. The team, you can imagine, the team who had to build all these microtransaction products for the last 12 years — they’re also players of the game, so they feel like the microtransactions are not helping their own game. And now, for the first time in history, they get to rip it all out and do what they want to do with the game, which is going to be an amazing moment.”
Bellamy also said, “There’s a lot of stuff that really just needs love and bringing it up to date. Players have been bothered about these things for a long time. And so we’re going to spend an entire year cleaning up all the things that are going to be most crowd-pleasing things for the players, and make the game as healthy and high integrity as possible.”
In the wake of the ripping out of the old microtransactions, Old School Runescape will have its monthly and annual subscriptions. With one subscription, players can also get access to Runescape 3. Players can also buy bonds with in-game wealth in Runescape 3. Those bonds can be redeemed for membership.
“Finally, the only kind of conventional micro transactions we will have in RuneScape will be cosmetics for the player, and also some very lightweight bonus experience. So rather than rewarding players with direct experience or purchases, they can bank bonus experience, which gets depleted as they train in-game. So there is no way to buy progression directly anymore. You always have to sort of train your skills if you want to level up. And that will be the entire suite of products that we offer,” Bellamy said.
The microtransactions have been in the game for 12 or 13 years.
“They’ve been getting more and more aggressive over time, following trends in the wider industry. And we took a step back and thought, ‘Look, this isn’t helping the game,” Bellamy said. “It’s making short-term money. But it’s suppressing membership and it’s driving players away, and it has been for a long time, alongside all of the other low-integrity parts of the game that we’re fixing this year.”
Removing the microtransactions is about making sure Jagex’s value of being community- obsessed is not hypocritical.
“We, collectively, with the board, with the team and with the players, voted on whether to remove microtransactions or not, and that vote was so fast,” Bellamy said. “In 24 hours we had 100,000 votes. We just made the call to be brave, take the pain now, do something difficult that requires some bravery because we’re going to back ourselves to bring the game back to membership growth and grow sustainably.”
More transparency
The company just had scores of creators in the Cambridge headquarters as well as press.
“All of the players have been speculating for weeks now what the roadmap might have in it,” Bellamy said.
“We’re showing everything that is coming for the year ahead,” Bellamy said. “We’ve got this RS25 initiative, which is the wrapper around all that. Last year was our most successful year in history. And 26 should blow 25 out of the water.”
Backed by the largest annual investment into the games to date, RS25 is a focus on those elements that matter most to players: from upgraded support systems, and modernized game infrastructure to bold new content releases, refreshed systems, and a hugely exciting line up of live events in U.S. and U.K.
“It’s incredible to think a quarter century has passed since RuneScape’s beginnings as a Java-based browser game,” said Bellamy. “Today we’re speaking to the largest and most active RuneScape community in our history, and this milestone is as much theirs as it is ours.”
There’s a new continent in Runescape called Havenhythe.
He added, “RS25 is more than a celebration of where we’ve come from, it’s a statement of where we’re going. We’re investing in our games, the player experience, our technology, and our teams to ensure RuneScape and its worlds continue to inspire and connect millions for decades to come. This is a year defined by investment, momentum, community obsession, and building the foundations of Jagex / RuneScape’s next great era.”
Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray said in a statement, “Jagex have been at the forefront of the video game industry for a quarter of a century, demonstrating how British studios can produce iconic, international hits like RuneScape. The government is committed to ensuring the continued success of our world-class video game sector and I am excited to see how Jagex continues to innovate, inspire, and build worlds alongside its global community.”
RS25 Key Highlights:
- Expanding the RuneScape Franchise through Live Experiences
As part of Jagex’s 2026 investment in live community-driven experiences, the RuneScape world is coming to players like never before, with major events on both sides of the Atlantic.- RuneFest returns: Bigger, bolder, and more immersive than ever
RuneFest 2026 will take place October 3–4 at the Birmingham NEC, doubling in size from RuneFest 2025 to host 6,000 fans for the largest in-person celebration to date, Bellamy said. The event will feature two permanent stages of live reveals and developer sessions, immersive theming and activities, meet and greets with Jagex staff and creators, exclusive merch and unforgettable community moments. Tickets go on sale this spring at RuneFest.com. - Deadman All-Stars Live: RuneScape takes the U.S. Stage
For the first time in its 25-year history, Jagex will bring the thrill of an elite Deadman Mode competition to the United States with Deadman All-Stars Live at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago on 20 June. Partnering with creator Solomission, this high energy event will see top content creators and competitors battle it out in front of a large theatre audience, as well as many more viewers via the livestream. Tickets on sale in February. “About half of our audience is in the U.S., and they’ve never had a domestic live event to attend. Now they will,” Bellamy said. - Creator LAN event: In another studio first, Old School RuneScape is gearing up for a major creator-led LAN event that fuses competition with real-world chaos. The high-energy experience will unite some of the community’s most recognizable creators for a live, high-energy showcase, streamed live to players at home. Offering a unique blend of top creators, inventive challenges, humour and unpredictability. More details to be shared in the spring.
- Boosted Creator commitment: Building on the success of 2025’s creator collaborations, such as Alan Walker x Sailing and our creator Game Jams at TwitchCon, Jagex is expanding its partnership with U.S.-based Right Click Culture, a hybrid creative development studio and talent management company. This collaboration is part of a broader commitment to user developed content (UDC), inviting authentic creators to co-develop new game mode experiences that enhance engagement and bring fresh perspectives into the RuneScape universe.
- RuneFest returns: Bigger, bolder, and more immersive than ever
- Integrity, Investment, and a Reborn RuneScape: At the centre of RS25 lies a renewed commitment to integrity, quality, and respect for players’ time and investment.
- Celebrating 25 Years in Style: The RS25 Anniversary Merch Collection
As part of the RS25 celebrations, Jagex unveils a new wave of premium collaborations and collectibles designed to let players take home a piece of Gielinor.- Available for pre-order now with partner Laced Records is RuneScape: 25 Years. Commemorating a quarter of a century’s Scaping, this deluxe 5-disc vinyl box set captures the atmosphere, emotion, and unmistakable character of RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. Each disc sleeve showcases stunning new anniversary artwork by renowned community artist Enkoro, capturing iconic bosses and moments from across RuneScape’s history.
- Available from January 25th, Jagex is bringing a little bit of Gielinor to players’ homes with the Lumbridge Castle Miniature Brick Set from partner Youtooz. Containing over 3500 pieces, it will allow players to upgrade their Construction skill and home décor all in one. It will be available to pre-order from 25th Jan for a limited time only, direct from youtooz.com.
- Available now are a commemorative 25th anniversary desk mat and pin on the RuneScape merch store, with more lines to follow throughout the year from a plethora of partners including Youtooz, Makeship, Starforge and Titan Books.
- Merchandise available at: www.runescape.com/25, with more to be revealed in coming months.
- To mark RS25, Jagex will also launch Membership Wrapped: A Founders’ Tribute, a first-ever recognition initiative celebrating the most dedicated adventurers. The program, launching later in the year, will feature personalized, exclusive stats and community spotlights honouring two and a half decades of dedication
- A renewed identity for a new era of Jagex
Jagex is today unveiling a refreshed corporate identity that more clearly aligns the studio with the RuneScape world at the heart of its past, present, and future, led by the new end line “Jagex: The RuneScape Company.” The evolution is supported by an updated digital presence, including a refreshed company website, alongside subtle new identity design elements such as a dragon silhouette inspired by RuneScape lore, symbolising legacy, strength, and transformation as the studio enters its next chapter. - Expanded Player Support
Following last year’s major service improvements, continued investment into enhanced live chat tools, faster response times, and strengthened anti-cheat systems will be introduced throughout the year - Forging Tomorrow’s Legends with RS25: Future Talent Pathway, in partnership with Into Games
Looking beyond the anniversary, Jagex is launching the RS25: Future Talent Pathway, a pioneering mentorship and development programme, dedicated to developing the next generation of game creators and storytellers. The programme, developed in partnership with UK charity Into Games, who help working-class and low-income talent to access, learn, and thrive in games careers, will combine mentorship, talent incubation, and community education partnerships designed to fuel innovation in and around our home community of Cambridgeshire, for the next quarter century.
“RuneScape has always been about building worlds together,” said Bellamy. “Our Future Talent Pathway reflects that same belief, empowering aspiring local new creators and developers to push boundaries, learn from some of the best in the industry, and build the experiences that will define the future of online play. It’s our commitment to nurturing talent, elevating creativity, and ensuring Jagex continues to lead from the front for the next 25 years.”
Marc Allera, Chair of Jagex, commented, “This 25th anniversary marks not only a celebration of Jagex’s legacy, but the start of an exciting new chapter. We’re entering a period of growth and innovation, expanding how we build, play, and connect with our global community. Backed by the largest ever investment in the RuneScape franchise, we’re committing record levels of funding into new content for RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and RuneScape: Dragonwilds, and into tooling and technologies to make the experience of being a RuneScape player better and more seamless than ever before. These investments will shape the next chapter around the community, while rewarding the players that brought us here – for us, the best of Jagex is still to come.
Bellamy also said that the company will focus on its “talent pathway” for people who want to work at Jagex, starting from places such as game testing. Bellamy himself has been a player for 20 years, and he noted many other players have come aboard as developers to work for the company over time. So Jagex is building out an academy for in-house QA.
“We’re actually going into schools and taking game ideas like doing some workshops, teaching some kids how to make games,” Bellamy said.
Given the layoffs across the whole game industry, Bellamy noted the team has seen that it gets 10 times the numer of applications that it once got for job openings. That’s why the company wants to invest in its talent pool.
As for AI tools, Bellamy said no generative AI assets will be used in any of its products or any of its marketing materials. But he said the company is seeking a middle ground on whether developers want to use AI tools in early stages of game development.
I asked Bellamy about whether the company had come to a resolution about a controversy with LGBTQ+ fans over But he declined to comment.
As for the investment, Bellamy said, “This is by far our biggest investment year in history. We’re spending tens of millions of dollars more in 2026 than ever before in the company’s life. It’s also the largest single year of investment increase.”