Jagex has disclosed that a fourth RuneScape MMO is in development under the working title RS4. The project uses Unreal Engine and returns to Gielinor, but the studio says it is still a few years from release.
The early announcement is not a full product reveal. Jagex has not confirmed platforms, account arrangements, membership terms, combat systems, skills, or a launch window. It plans to share more about the game and ways for players to take part in development next year.
Ashenfall is the starting point
RS4 begins in Ashenfall, the landmass northeast of Gielinor first explored in RuneScape: Dragonwilds. The new MMO takes place years after the events of that game and the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra. Jagex intends Ashenfall to be a starting region rather than the limit of the project, with later expansion into familiar and new parts of Gielinor.
The setting is the Sixth Age, tying RS4 to RuneScape’s established world while leaving room for a separate experience. The official announcement does not describe a playable build, test date, or release schedule.
RS4 will not replace the existing games
Jagex says the project will sit alongside RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and RuneScape: Dragonwilds. Those games retain separate teams, roadmaps, and investment. That distinction matters because the RS4 label describes a fourth-generation project, not a migration plan for current players.
The studio says it wants to carry technical lessons from Dragonwilds into the new game while using the community-development approach established through RuneScape and Old School. Integrity and permanent progression are named as design principles, although no detailed systems have been announced.
The name and scope can still change
RS4 is explicitly a working title. Jagex chose to speak while development is still early so players can follow and influence the process, which also means many decisions remain open. Treat the announcement as confirmation of the project, its engine, setting, and broad relationship to the other games—not as a promise of specific features.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Primary source and official media: Jagex RS4 announcement
