Creative director Mod Ryan announced that RuneScape Reignited, a new game mode designed for both old and seasoned players to start fresh, has been canceled less than two weeks after it was first announced.
The news was published on October 15 in the form of an official YouTube video and blog post, where Mod Ryan revealed that Jagex’s choice to cancel Reignited was in direct response to player feedback.
“We received a ton of different perspectives from all of you, and we truly appreciate everyone sharing their views. It is super important to us because the last time we didn’t listen to player feedback, combat changed forever. And it has taken us over a decade to recover from that. Now I said on stage that we would not repeat the same mistakes of the past, and I truly stand by that. Considering this, we have made the decision to cancel Reignited,” the post reads.
“It is clear that we missed the mark on this, and so we are not moving forward with it. Our goal is to see RuneScape grow again, with returning players coming back and new players joining, but never at the expense of our existing community.”
That being said, that doesn’t mean RuneScape is now without any exciting developments for new players who are looking to finally try it out for themselves; starting December 2, RuneScape will hold a 10-day free trial that will let new characters — or any character that, by that date, hasn’t been in membership since June 2 — access RuneScape Members worlds and content until December 12.
The team at Jagex are also releasing the Adventure Guide and the first part of the Remastered Journey, as well as a “host of other improvements” to the game. Its 2027 roadmap is still going strong, and Plugins are still scheduled to launch on Monday, October 19.
“There’s tons of combat and skilling content throughout. We’re bringing decade-old storylines to a close, with a return to a proper grandmaster quest. And we’re reworking a core skill that is fundamental to the player experience: Agility. All of this while still continuing to deliver meaningful changes as part of the Road to Restoration,” Ryan said.
“…the future of RuneScape is still extremely bright. RuneScape will always be built for and defined by its community. So please keep letting us know when you feel we’re getting it wrong and shout with that same energy when you think we’re getting it right too,” he continued.
RuneCcape Reignited was revealed on October 3 during RuneFest 2026. Essentially, it’s like WoW Forever, allowing both new and returning players to start off with a clean slate and experience the game as if everyone were playing it for the first time. However, a vocal portion of the game’s playerbase felt that this would fracture its community, arguing that it would be better for the devs to focus on ongoing updates and improvements, instead — and it seems like Jagex listened to their concerns.
It looks like players are extremely happy about this turn of events, if the top posts on the game’s subreddit are anything to go by. “I’m glad to see Reignited is canceled, that does go a long way to rebuilding trust,” one player wrote. “…We’re here because we love this game and we do want more people to join, because it’s no secret that our playerbase is small and does not grow much. We want new people, but we want them to join this game, not a parallel copy of this game.”
“We said no to Hero Pass and they removed it, we said no to Reignited and they removed it, we b**ched and moaned about [microtransactions] they eventually removed [them]. This is the reason the game is almost three decades old with active players,” another said.
RuneScape 4 was also announced at RuneFest. While we don’t know much about it yet, we do know that it’s designed to be a next-gen version of the celebrated MMO built on the Unreal Engine. No release date has yet been shared.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
