For video games, a 25-year lifespan is nearly unthinkably long. With countless new titles releasing weekly, a game staying in the public eye and for even a few years is a massive achievement—and remaining relevant for a quarter-century is almost unheard of. Only a handful of have managed to retain their popularity for nearly that long, and one game that just turned 25 has done so by honoring its origins even as it evolved continuously.
When launched on January 4, 2001, it was a browser-based game run by two brothers operating out of their parents’ home. By the end of 2001, the developer Jagex was officially formed, and shortly thereafter, paid subscriptions were introduced. Over the next few years, RuneScape’s engine was rewritten twice, and a new graphical style was implemented.
Compared to modern MMOs, RuneScape has a distinctly old-school feel, often coming off as directionless. While games like focus on ongoing storylines, RuneScape centers on the story players craft for themselves. After learning the basics, players are given free rein to do almost anything they choose—whether mastering its 20-plus skill trees, hunting high-level monsters, or aiding (or clashing with) fellow players as they see fit.
Since RuneScape’s launch, Jagex has grown from a bedroom startup to a large developer that continues to expand its core MMO. Yet despite all the changes, RuneScape feels strikingly similar to the game that first launched from its creators’ home—a feat requiring significant intentional work from Jagex. Even with its outmoded freeform exploration, RuneScape has stayed committed to player autonomy and never strayed from its old-school roots.
Today, RuneScape exists as two distinct versions. The game now called RuneScape originated when its developers first rewrote the original engine—initially named RuneScape 2. Instead of replacing the original game, Jagex kept it running under RuneScape Classic, while the update eventually inherited the RuneScape name. Eventually, maintaining RuneScape Classic became more trouble than it was worth, as it grew less compatible with Jagex’s modern development tools.
A few years before RuneScape Classic shut down, Jagex noticed players’ desire to keep some form of the game’s original vision alive. In 2013, the company ran a poll asking if players wanted a version based on older code preserving RuneScape as it was in August 2007. Players voted overwhelmingly yes, and Old School RuneScape was born. Still running alongside modern RuneScape, it evolves with new skills and updates just like the newer version—aiming to keep the hard-to-articulate vibe of a bygone era.
In some ways, both RuneScape versions are exercises in nostalgia—not for their own sake, but for what modern MMORPGs have left behind. Over time, RuneScape added microtransactions giving paying players advantages, but in 2025, Jagex let players vote on removing them. As expected, most voted to cut them. Like Old School RuneScape’s creation, this vote showed Jagex’s willingness to listen and fans’ desire to keep the franchise unique. That collective passion may well persist for another 25 years.