RuneScape RuneFest 2026 Recap - The biggest news and what it was like on the ground

• RuneScape's massive RuneFest convention took place this past weekend
• And it included some major announcements and upcoming roadmap entries
• Not to mention a surprise reveal for an in-development entry...

While many of you were probably spending your weekend doing whatever it is you do to de-stress after the week, I made my way to Birmingham. I know, terrifying. Fortunately, the reason that I was there was that I was visiting RuneFest 2026, hosted by Jagex to celebrate their massive MMORPG franchise, RuneScape.

By now you've probably already seen the big news from over the weekend, including the announcement of RuneScape Four, or the 4th Pillar, as the latest entry in the franchise and one that's still in very, very early development.

But there were far more big pieces of news that I think it's worth us going over again. 

Now, don't worry, this won't be an exhaustive list of everything from every single roadmap. But if you haven't had the chance to already look at them, then you can read through this to get a little sense of what's coming in late 2026 and 2027 for OSRS RuneScape and Dragonwilds.

Reignited in RuneScape

There are some major additions coming in 2027 for RuneScape, separated into three major arcs, starting with Hoard of Dragons, then The City of Gnomes and finally unlocking the Secrets of Karamja as the third arc, with a brand-new raid to dig into and other exciting content soon to be revealed.

Hoard of Dragons will see not just the introduction of Dragon Slayer II, following on from one of the most iconic RuneScape questlines, but also a full Agility Rework. And that’s one subject I found got quite the pop from the crowd, as the rework looks to turn agility into a real new means of getting around Gielinor.

But the most game-changing new piece of content will undoubtedly be RuneScape: Reignited - a new way to experience RuneScape as a new player, or jump in with newbie friends on a whole new character.

Reignited is intended to be a chance for new players to experience everything that RuneScape has to offer from the ground up. You'll start off at level three, and from December 2nd you'll have 10 days to experience everything, including members-only content, before you need to pay a single cent.

Reignited characters are intended to coexist alongside players who play regular or even play Iron Man. They'll have access to their own economy and even the chance to achieve world-first achievements and even have their progress immortalised in their own Hall of Heroes. It’s basically a fresh-start option for RuneScape fans, new and old alike.

I think that Reignited was both one of the most exciting and one of the more controversial pieces of news. I attended the Q&A about it afterwards, and there were a great many people who were interested and perhaps a little bit concerned about how it was going to affect the wider RuneScape community.

But speaking frankly, as somebody who played a little bit of RuneScape when I was a kid and has never really had the opportunity to kind of jump in from a fresh start, I think that this will be very tempting. Not just to individual players, but to groups of friends perhaps who want to experience the same kind of excitement that many RuneScape fans have when they are playing their favourite MMORPG.

Some of that OLD SCHOOL

Ironically, Old School RuneScape might actually outstrip regular RuneScape in terms of popularity. And that wasn't in doubt with the kind of reaction that the newest reveals at the Old School RuneScape summit got. We had the usual introduction of more bosses such as Ripgut and Gemstone Dragons, more dungeons, and quite a few more hit quests that are now being recreated with their own format and own twists and turns for Old School RuneScape.

However, there are two big pieces of news that really seem to catch people's attention. The first of which is the introduction of hardcore worlds. If you don't know what that means, hardcore worlds are essentially permadeath servers. You will create a character, venture through as normal, but when you perish, whether that be in PvP or PvE, that's it; you're done.

Fortunately, all that time you sank into that character isn't wholly wasted, as you can then choose to take them into a regular server and still keep playing with them. However, as long as you are still playing on that hardcore server, you'll have access to exclusive rewards and other goodies to keep you playing. And the best part is that hardcore worlds are arriving as of November 4th, so you don't have long to wait before risking it all.

Next up, the Golden Gates of Menaphos are finally opening and believe me, I was very surprised to hear the absolutely massive reaction this announcement got. For those who don't know, OSRS and RuneScape are differentiated by the kind of content that they have. So there are certain quests and certain areas that are available in regular RuneScape which haven't yet been backported to OSRS.

As you might expect, Menaphos is one of them, and to see it recreated in the Old School RuneScape style with its own unique twists and turns is something that I think many fans are very excited for.

Finally, the one that really caught my eye was undoubtedly Fairytale III: Nexus of Power, which really shows off the humorous side of RuneScape as you battle it out with the Fairy Godfather (complete with Marlon Brando voice) who seeks to claim the titular Nexus from the Fairy Queen. But tongue-in-cheek doesn’t mean easy, as you’ll need to claim the Nexus before the Godfather does, and fight your way through its traps and guardians to do so.

What were things like on the ground?

I think I never really appreciated just how big RuneScape was until I went to RuneFest 2026. With over 6000 attendees, even in a relatively large convention hall, it felt absolutely packed. And I do have to admit, it's a very humbling experience to be able to see so many enthusiasts for a single game in one place who are showing off their love with cosplay, with merchandise, or even just participating in chatting with other people they may have only known online up until that point.

This extended to the presence of the development team and the mods, of course. Many of them were walking around helping people out or up on stage. Plenty of junior mods were filling the role of staff attending to, uh, people who might need help. And for a game which by many metrics is the second largest ‘traditional’ MMORPG today, it's very interesting to see that kind of personal touch still given at a convention like RuneFest.

What role does mobile play?

When it comes to the role that mobile plays in RuneScape, for both Old School RuneScape and the regular MMORPG, I found that anecdotally, plenty of people actually play both. That is to say, many people will use their PC as their main place to play RuneScape and also occasionally pull out their phone or their iPad or other portable device to obviously grind out their levels or play when they’re on the go.

And one more thing…

Obviously, the big surprise reveal, although, as I found out, many people have been speculating since the start of the year that this was on its way, was the announcement that RuneScape Four or the 4th pillar or the fourth full-fledged entry in the franchise, whatever you may want to call it, is now in early development. Now, unfortunately, I don't have any more information than you do, as every time I probe the question, the general answer is ‘we can't really talk about that right now’.

But it's undoubtedly a very exciting moment to be both a RuneScape fan and a general MMORPG fan. RS4 apparently sprung out of some of the work being done by the Dragonwilds team, who were responding to player feedback that they wanted a more traditional MMO experience with larger worlds and larger play accounts.

Was it worth attending?

I am very, very glad that I got the chance to go to RuneFest 2026. Aside from how friendly everyone was, I found that it really opened my eyes to the popularity of RuneScape and how vibrant the community really is.

As for the new additions coming in RuneScape, I think I am most excited for Reignited, as this is an opportunity for players like myself, who have always been curious and have always heard how big RuneScape is, to finally jump in and experience it through what is essentially kind of a demo period.

I don't deny that even I am a little bit sceptical about how long that entirely separate economy and progression system will last, but I am glad to see that it's not wholly gated off from the rest of the RuneScape community. So who knows, maybe it will gradually be folded in, or maybe it'll stay separate as it gains popularity to stand alongside other types of characters?

So keep your eyes peeled throughout the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, because it may very well be that this is the time to jump back into RuneScape, whether that be on PC or on mobile. 

And if you're looking for other great MMOs and MMORPGs on mobile, why not check out our list of the best mobile games like World of Warcraft?