RuneScape 4 Announced at RuneFest: How a Dragonwilds Expansion Became Jagex's Fourth Pillar

The biggest cheer of RuneFest 2026 came for a game that does not exist yet, does not have a release window, and may not even keep its name. On the main stage at the NEC in Birmingham, Jagex unveiled a brand-new RuneScape MMORPG - currently known only as RS4 - built in Unreal Engine and set in the familiar world of Gielinor. The concept teaser showed armored warriors riding dragons through the skies above a sprawling city, and for a moment the 25-year-old franchise looked genuinely new again.

Then came the detail that reframed everything: RS4 did not begin as a sequel at all. It began as an expansion for RuneScape: Dragonwilds, the co-op survival spinoff that only hit its 1.0 launch last month.

That single fact says more about Jagex's strategy than any trailer could. Here is what was actually announced, where RS4 came from, what Jagex insists it is not, and why the community response has been anything but uniform.

What Jagex Actually Announced

RS4 is a full MMORPG set in Gielinor, Jagex's official announcement confirms, with the working title standing in for what the studio calls its "fourth generation RuneScape project." The final name is not settled.

The game is built on Unreal Engine, though the specific version remains unconfirmed. RPG Site attributes it to Unreal Engine 5, while PC Gamer notes it is unclear whether the project targets UE5 or the upcoming UE6. Treat "Unreal Engine" as the confirmed fact and the UE5 claim as an unverified detail.

The setting is the Sixth Age, beginning in Ashenfall, the landmass north-east of Gielinor first explored in Dragonwilds. The timeline places RS4 years after the events of that game and after the destruction of the Dragon Queen Kuldra. Dragons, per the teaser, will serve as both antagonists and mounts.

What Jagex did not announce is nearly as notable. There is no release window, no platform list, and no gameplay footage. The game is in very early development and "still a few years away," with more information promised in 2027. The stated design principles are integrity, permanent progression, and community-driven development - language that will sound familiar to anyone who has followed the studio's recent positioning.

From 'Shadows of Ashenfall' to a Standalone MMO

The origin story is the most interesting part of the announcement. RS4 started life as a planned 2027 Dragonwilds expansion called Shadows of Ashenfall.

The original goal was modest by MMO standards: make Dragonwilds feel more like a "typical Jagex game." That meant persistent servers, higher player counts, a social hub, and player-to-player trading - features survival players had been requesting since the game entered Early Access in April 2025.

Playtesters pushed it further. As Polygon reports, demand for deeper social mechanics grew to the point where the team could no longer contain the project inside an expansion. What began as a request for a social hub became, in America's telling, a project that could no longer fit inside an expansion. Dragonwilds executive producer Jesse America put it plainly: the team realized the project "essentially would be an MMO, and that it deserved its own game."

One clarification matters here. The 2027 target belonged to the abandoned Shadows of Ashenfall expansion, not to RS4. The two should not be conflated, and Jagex has been explicit that RS4 has no date attached.

The 'Fourth Pillar' and What RS4 Is Not

Jagex's official framing is that RS4 is "not a replacement" for Old School RuneScape, RuneScape, or Dragonwilds. Each retains its own dedicated team, roadmap, and continued investment. America described RS4 as the studio's "fourth pillar," a project "the entire studio will work on."

The 2027 roadmaps presented at RuneFest back up that claim on paper. RuneScape 3 unfolds across three story arcs: Hoard of Dragons in January, followed by City of Gnomes and the Secrets of Karamja raid. Dragonwilds receives the Luminance update this winter, the Blood Crystal Saga in 2027, and official modding support in the first half of 2027.

To appreciate how unusual this structure is, consider the lineage. RuneScape launched in 2001, RuneScape 2 arrived in 2004 with full 3D graphics, and RuneScape 3 followed in 2013 as the current main fork. Old School RuneScape, released in 2013, is built from a 2007 RS2 backup. Historically, each numbered entry replaced its predecessor. RS4 is the first time Jagex has proposed a numbered game that sits alongside the existing ones rather than supplanting them.

That is the official framing. Whether players read it that way is another question - one Section 5 returns to.

Also at RuneFest

RS4 was not the only announcement. RuneScape Reignited launches December 2, 2026, described by Jagex as a "defining moment" for the 25-year-old game. It introduces a new permanent character type with its own economy and hiscores, no paid progression, and no Treasure Hunter "ever." To be precise about the framing: Reignited is a new character type layered onto RuneScape alongside a remastering effort and an Adventure Guide, not simply RS3 under a new name.

Jagex also confirmed a RuneScape animated adaptation in partnership with Charlie White, better known as MoistCr1TiKaL, and Los Angeles production company Lyrical Media. RuneFest 2026 was the largest yet, drawing over 6,000 fans to the NEC across October 3 and 4, timed to RuneScape's 25th anniversary and what Jagex states is more than 300 million lifetime player accounts.

Meanwhile, Dragonwilds itself continues to expand the franchise's footprint. Its 1.0 launch on September 15, 2026 arrived simultaneously on PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S - the first RuneScape title on consoles in the franchise's history.

Reading the Room: A Mixed Reception

Community reaction to the RS4 reveal was not the clean celebration Jagex might have hoped for, though the picture is more nuanced than some headlines suggest.

The timing was the problem. As DualShockers noted, RS4's announcement landed roughly half an hour after Reignited asked players to start over. For a segment of the community, the sequence invited dot-connecting: a fresh start for the old game, followed immediately by a new game entirely. It is worth treating this as a notable angle rather than a universal consensus, since only one medium-confidence source frames the reaction as broad backlash.

The open questions do the rest of the work. With no gameplay, no platforms, and no window, there is little concrete material for either enthusiasm or criticism. What remains is a logo, a teaser, and a promise.

The next real test comes in 2027, when Jagex has committed to sharing more.

A Promise With Years Left to Keep

Step back from the stage lights and the shape of the moment becomes clearer. A 25-year-old franchise is now fielding four concurrent games. A survival spinoff that launched into Early Access 18 months ago accidentally birthed an MMO. And a studio is betting that "alongside" can succeed where "replacement" historically has not - a bet that will take years to settle.

Whether RS4 becomes a genuine fourth pillar or a cautionary tale about scope creep is unknowable today. What is knowable is how it started: players asked for a social hub, and Jagex came back with a world.