During the annual RuneFest celebration in Birmingham, United Kingdom, game developer Jagex announced that RuneScape 4 is officially in development, and for the first time the franchise will be utilizing the Unreal Engine.
The game’s trailer–available on the official website–highlights that dragons will be central to the new MMORPG, with players being able to both fight and ride the mighty beasts.
Executive producer Jesse America stated that the game will remain true to the typical RuneScape experience, including persistent servers, high players counts, and player-to-player trading.
He also revealed that the game came about during discussions of crafting an expansion for their recently released RuneScape: Dragonwilds game–a spin-off which trades in the MMORPG gameplay for more open-world survival mechanics.
America stated that “[t]he Team embraced that challenge [of making an expansion] with a lot of creative ambition and enthusiasm. When we saw the very first prototypes and read the designs that they’d brought together, we realized that the game direction of all of this pointed at a completely different scope. We came to the realization that it essentially would be an MMO, and that it deserved its own game.”
First released in January 2001, RuneScape is a classic MMORPG that helped shape the genre into what it is today. What began as a Java-based browser game has blossomed into a franchise that has made over $3 billion USD and available on a variety of devices, including mobile.
It is unknown what the fates of Jagex’s other RuneScope titles will be, but America referred to RuneScape 4 as the studio’s “fourth pillar” which seems to imply that others will remain alive and well; currently, Jagex supports the games RuneScape (aka RuneScape 3), Old School RuneScape, and RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
No release date for RuneScape 4 was discussed, nor what platforms will be supported.
What are your thoughts on a brand new RuneScape game using the Unreal Engine? Have you played any of the RuneScape titles, or are you currently adventuring in the world of Gielinor? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: RuneScape
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