Creative Director Mod Ryan has announced that RuneScape Reignited, a new game mode designed to give old and seasoned players a fresh start, has been canceled less than two weeks after it was first announced.
The news was released on October 15 as an official video on YouTube 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 really appreciate everyone sharing their perspective. This is very important to us because the last time we didn’t listen to player feedback, combat changed forever. And it took us over a decade to recover from that. Now, I said on stage that we wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes of the past, and I sincerely stand by that. Given that, we’ve made the decision to cancel Reignited,” the message read.
“It’s clear we’ve missed the mark on this, and so we’re not moving forward. Our goal is to see RuneScape grow again, with players returning and new players joining, but never at the expense of our existing community.”
That being said, this doesn’t mean that RuneScape is now devoid of exciting developments for new players looking to finally try it out for themselves; Starting December 2, RuneScape will offer a 10-day free trial that will allow new characters (or any character who, as of that date, has not been a member since June 2) to access RuneScape worlds and member content until December 12.
The Jagex team is 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 roadmap for 2027 is still going strong and the plugins launch is still scheduled for Monday, October 19.
“There’s tons of combat content and skills throughout. We’re putting an end to decade-old stories, with a return to a true grandmaster quest. And we’re reworking a core skill that’s fundamental to the player experience: Agility. All this while continuing to make meaningful changes as part of the Road to Restoration,” Ryan said.
“…the future of RuneScape is still extremely bright. RuneScape will always be built and defined by its community. So continue to let us know when you feel we’re wrong, and shout with the same energy when you think we’re doing things right,” he continued.
RuneCcape Reignited was revealed on October 3 during RuneFest 2026. Essentially, it’s like WoW Forever, allowing new and returning players to start with a clean slate and experience the game as if everyone were playing it for the first time. However, a portion of the game’s players felt that this would divide its community, arguing that it would be better for the developers to instead focus on ongoing updates and improvements – and it seems Jagex has listened to their concerns.
It seems like players are extremely happy with this turn of events, if the top posts on the game’s subreddit are to be believed. “I’m glad to see Reignited being cancelled, it goes a long way to rebuilding trust,” one player wrote. “…We’re here because we love this game and we want more people to join, because it’s no secret that our player base is small and not growing much. We want new people, but we want them to join us. 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 messed and moaned about the (microtransactions), they finally removed (them). This is the reason the game is almost three decades old with active players,” said another.
RuneScape 4 was also announced during RuneFest. Although we don’t know much about it yet, we do know that it is designed to be a next-gen version of the popular MMO built on Unreal Engine. No release date has been shared yet.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s senior news editor. With ten years of experience in the gaming and entertainment industry, she has a strong background in the fighting game community, influencer news and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
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