Jon Bellamy is the new CEO at Jagex. He succeeds Phil Mansell as head of the studio after 14 years. To mark his start, the new head of RuneScape and Old School RuneScape makes a big promise that many players will likely appreciate.
What does the new CEO of Jagex promise? MeinMMO had already reported that Old School RuneScape is set to receive a graphics update under the new leadership of CEO Jon “Mod North” Bellamy in a few months. However, various other topics came up during a Q&A session on YouTube.
Particularly exciting were Bellamy’s statements regarding microtransactions. In this regard, the new CEO stated:
In Old School RuneScape, there will never be microtransactions, and RuneScape 3 needs to rely less aggressively on monetization to ensure sustainability for the next 25 years. This is as clear to me as it can be. I have seen firsthand how these hyper-monetized games look on mobile; that is not what our games are, and it is not what they need. It is completely incompatible.
CEO Jon Bellamy via YouTube
Here you can watch the Steam trailer for Old School RuneScape:
The right words for the start
Why are microtransactions currently a topic? Before Jon Bellamy joined Jagex, he worked for companies like HugeGames, which focus heavily on monetization, especially in mobile games.
Moreover, it was not long ago that the developers of RuneScape landed in hot water with a survey that included topics like the introduction of in-game advertising for subscribers, exclusive access for paying players to advanced account protection options, exclusive support, or a subscription with limited access.
Though the management quickly clarified due to the subsequent backlash that these were merely theoretical ideas that would not be implemented, the team lost quite a bit of trust. There was a flood of negative reviews on Steam, which also affected our list of the 10 MMORPGs on Steam with the best ratings.
In the Q&A session, Jon Bellamy referred to the survey as a “misstep.” Under his leadership, they now want to gradually break the game’s design, which has revolved around microtransactions for 20 years, to remove them step by step from the game.
Additionally, the CEO explained that the survey had nothing to do with the resignation of his predecessor Phil Mansell. How popular the MMORPG still is after all these years is shown by this news: 23-year-old MMORPG is played more than New World, Throne and Liberty, and Lost Ark combined thanks to a major event
