Jagex is hitting the reset button on 25 years of RuneScape. The developer has announced RuneScape Reignited, a character-based fresh-start relaunch of the long-running free-to-play MMO where every player begins at level 3 together in a world with an all-new shared economy and no paid progression.
The refresh was announced at the RuneFest 2026 Summit, with Jagex fleshing out the details in an official blog post on October 3. The initiative aims to bring lapsed players back into the fold while giving newcomers a clean entry point into a game that can feel impenetrable after a quarter century of updates.
RuneScape Reignited launches on December 2. All Reignited characters will start at level 3 on a new shared starting point, in a world with no Treasure Hunters — Jagex's controversial microtransaction system. Every Reignited character will also get free access to members' content for the first 10 days after launch.
The project is built around restoring what Jagex calls the MMO's core: progression, challenge, community, and meaningful rewards. In the blog post, the studio called out players who have felt lost or left behind in modern RuneScape, as well as newer players unsure of where to begin.
"Reignited is the culmination of everything that we have been building towards this year, and yet it is also the start of a brand new chapter," Jagex said.
The announcement headlined this year's RuneFest Summit, Jagex's annual celebration of all things RuneScape, where the studio positioned Reignited as the centerpiece of its plans for the franchise's next era. The studio framed the relaunch as a chance to experience 25 years of RuneScape almost as if the game were being released for the first time today — "a chance for the next chapter of RuneScape's history to be written," where players can "walk in the footsteps of the legends before us, and carve your own story into the Hall of Legends."
Notably, Reignited characters won't be sealed off in a separate world. They'll live alongside existing players in Gielinor every day — much like how Ironman players coexist with the broader community today — so veterans will see the fresh-start population thriving around them.
The move follows a similar playbook to Blizzard's World of Warcraft Forever initiative, which likewise aims to lure lapsed players back with a clean slate. For Jagex, the bet is that a level playing field and an economy untouched by a quarter century of inflation will do what years of updates couldn't: make RuneScape feel new again.
RuneScape Reignited arrives December 2, with the first 10 days of members' content free for all Reignited characters.
Source: Jagex
