With 16.5 million subscribers and almost 6,000 videos, penguinz0 is one of the larger YouTubers who regularly deals with games. In his new work, he looks back at the game that has accompanied him for almost 20 years, and how the responsible developers are now losing trust in the community.
What happened? On January 20, 2025, MeinMMO already reported that the developers of RuneScape had sent a survey to selected players to find out what they thought about potential adjustments regarding the subscription or monetization of the MMORPG classic.
When the survey was released by respondents, a shitstorm broke out within the community because, among other things, the introduction of in-game advertising for subscribers, exclusive access for paying players to enhanced account protection options, as well as exclusive support or a subscription with limited access to the game were included in the topics.
The shitstorm was so severe that the CEO Mod Pips personally wrote an apology and promised improvement in his statement. They hadn’t even intended to actually implement these things, but just wanted to gather feedback from players on these theoretical thought experiments.
RuneScape and Old School RuneScape can also be played via Steam:
The Beginning of the End?!
What is the YouTuber’s reaction? The video released by penguinz0 after the CEO’s statement clearly shows (via YouTube) that the developers have lost a lot of trust with their survey. This is not changed by the subsequent apology from those responsible.
penguinz0 explains that RuneScape has accompanied him since 2005 and therefore many emotions and memories are associated with the MMORPG classic. He has not invested so many hours in any other game. Just in one of the accounts, about 4,000 hours are said to have been spent. When including the other accounts of the player, the playtime in RuneScape is said to double again.
But now they have ruined the game, so the preliminary conclusion of penguinz0. The ideas in the survey only reflect the greed of the developers. Implementing these changes would mean the immediate death of the 23-year-old, until now very successful MMORPG, according to the YouTuber’s fears.
Here you can watch penguinz0’s video:
From the CEO’s statement, penguinz0 reads that the developers still plan to maximize the revenues of RuneScape at the expense of the player experience – for example, by providing advertising directly in the game.
Moreover, he lacks a reasonable explanation for why they asked players for feedback on things they allegedly do not want to implement. For penguinz0, the survey seems to be a clear sign that RuneScape will only go downhill from now on.
How does the community evaluate the video? The emotional statement from penguinz0 has so far generated more than 1.4 million views and more than 3,800 comments. Most viewers seem to share the YouTuber’s concerns and critiques.
- SoupRS writes on YouTube: “The survey was an absolute joke. I’m glad the community reacted so strongly.”
- kerb755 complains on YouTube: “Putting account security behind a paywall is a whole new level of deception.”
- VerfRS is happy about the video on YouTube: “I’m glad so many content creators are dealing with this issue.”
- drae explains on YouTube: “The investors don’t realize that the majority of the player base consists of 20 to 30-year-old guys who have experienced this before. If they do anything to turn it into a pay-to-win game, subscription numbers will plummet, because we all know what happens then. As a casual player since Classic, it’s sad to see.”
What do I need to know about RuneScape? The MMORPG released in 2001 is a long-lasting genre classic, a multiple world record holder and, thanks to the classic “Old School” version released in 2013, still very successful today: 23-year-old MMORPG is played more due to a big event than New World, Throne and Liberty, and Lost Ark combined.
The MMORPG series relies on old genre virtues like interaction with other players, crafting and trading, is playable not only on PC but also on mobile, and has made a name for itself because many planned innovations must first be approved by the community before they can go live. And soon, the offer is set to expand even further: One of the most successful MMORPGs of all time is getting a survival game in the same universe, built on Unreal Engine 5.
