The MMORPG Oldschool RuneScape is currently so popular that a new record has been set. There are supposed to be several reasons for this.
What record has been set? On Twitter, the developer studio Jagex announced on November 1 that 157,445 players were simultaneously playing the MMORPG Oldschool RuneScape. But this number was shortly topped afterwards.
On the official website of the MMORPG, it is mentioned in the forum that there are even more than 164,000 concurrent players.
That is about 10,000 more than at the end of March/beginning of April, when Jagex was able to measure just over 155,000 concurrent players, which was already a record back then.
Corona Drives Growth in RuneScape
How did this all-time high come about? Jagex cites several reasons for this:
- The league “Leagues II – Trailblazer”, which started in August, apparently was extremely well-received. So well that a lot of players seem to have stayed.
- Furthermore, the Corona crisis is mentioned as a reason. The pandemic generally leads to a surge in video games, especially online games. RuneScape is apparently no exception.
What is this league? The league takes place in a separate game mode, for which everyone needs to create a new account. Tasks must be completed to unlock new game areas. You need to proceed tactically because you can only take on a certain number of tasks. During this, you collect points that unlock rewards and relics with buffs.
Could this also be related to the Steam launch? There could be a connection, but not in the way some might think. RuneScape 3 was launched on October 14 via Steam. This is the modern version of the MMORPG. The Steam players do not count towards the player number that has now set a record for OldSchool RuneScape, one of the oldest still active online role-playing games.
However, RuneScape 3 has been heavily criticized on Steam particularly by RuneScape fans who feel that version 3 is not the “true” RuneScape. They encouraged players to try OldSchool RuneScape instead. Therefore, it is conceivable that this has contributed to the classic version of the MMORPG experiencing this increase in players.
What is OldSchool RuneScape? There are two versions of the MMORPG RuneScape. RuneScape 3 is continually being developed and revised as well as modernized. However, this did not sit well with some veterans of the original version, who prefer the classic gaming experience.
Therefore, Jagex developed the Oldschool variant in 2013, which plays like in the early days. Changes are only made here in close communication with the community.
Jagex, however, is not only concerned with RuneScape. The studio is also working on a new next-gen MMORPG.
