Jagex has announced a completely new RuneScape MMORPG built in Unreal Engine. Currently called RS4, the project is at the beginning of development and remains a few years away, according to the studio's official announcement.
RS4 is a working name, so it may not be the game's final title. It is a separate MMORPG, rather than RuneScape Reignited or an update to the existing RuneScape.
Jagex says RS4 will sit alongside RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and RuneScape: Dragonwilds as an independent experience. None of those games is being replaced. Each retains its own development team, roadmap and continued investment.
The reveal came at RuneFest 2026 during RuneScape's 25th anniversary year. RuneFest took place on 3 and 4 October at the NEC in Birmingham.
RS4 begins in Ashenfall, years after Dragonwilds
RS4 is set in Gielinor during the Sixth Age. Its adventure begins in Ashenfall, the landmass players first explored in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, years after that game's events and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra.
That shared setting does not make RS4 a Dragonwilds sequel. Dragonwilds remains a separate survival game with its own ongoing content development.
Jagex intends to expand RS4 beyond Ashenfall over time. Its plans include familiar parts of Gielinor as well as new locations and stories, though it has not named the areas players will visit beyond the starting landmass.
Why Jagex is announcing RS4 so early
Jagex says it considered keeping the project private for longer, but wants players involved from the beginning. The studio plans to combine technology lessons from Dragonwilds with the experience of developing RuneScape and Old School RuneScape alongside their communities.
Community-driven development is one of RS4's core design principles, together with integrity and permanent progression. Jagex has not yet explained how those principles will translate into specific systems.
There are still substantial gaps. Jagex says it is too early to answer questions about platforms, accounts, membership, progression, combat, skills or when players can try the game. It has announced no release date or year, beta date or playtest, and has not confirmed whether existing accounts, characters or progress will carry over. Permanent progression is a design principle, not confirmation of transfers.
Jagex plans to share much more in 2027 about RS4's world, the game itself, its development team and how players can begin getting involved. No date has been set for that reveal. The promise of more information in 2027 is not a launch announcement.