First look: Jagex is developing a new RuneScape MMO in Unreal Engine, the first numbered sequel in the series since RuneScape 3 launched in 2013. The project was announced at RuneFest 2026 under the working title RS4, though players have already begun calling it RuneScape 4. Jagex said the game is in early development with its own dedicated team and is a few years from release.
The company has not said which version of Unreal Engine it is using, which platforms the game will support or when it plans to show gameplay. Its first public look at the project is a CGI teaser rather than an in-engine demonstration.
The trailer shows a town in a green valley beneath floating islands, along with a dragon rider under attack by a three-headed dragon. The footage conveys a cinematic fantasy setting more than anything else and offers few details about the game's systems, combat, scale or online structure.
RS4 has its roots in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Jagex's Unreal Engine 5 open-world survival game. The MMO reportedly began as an expansion for Dragonwilds, originally planned for 2027, but that changed after playtesters pushed for a more traditional MMO set in the same world.
The result is now a separate game rather than an add-on. The story is expected to begin years after Dragonwilds and return players to Ashenfall, the region introduced in the survival game. Beyond that shared setting, Jagex has not said how closely the two projects will be connected.
The use of Unreal Engine is one of the announcement's more important details. Jagex has already used Unreal Engine 5 for Dragonwilds, but RS4 will be a much bigger test of the technology within the franchise. Building an MMO takes more than large environments and detailed character models. The game will need reliable online infrastructure, persistent worlds and systems that can support a large player base over time.
None of that has been shown yet. Jagex has not discussed the game's server structure, world design, combat model, player economy or social systems. It also has not said whether RS4 will follow the classless, skill-driven approach of the existing games or take a different route.
There are business questions as well. RuneScape 3, Old School RuneScape and Dragonwilds will all continue to operate after RS4 launches. Jagex has not said how it plans to monetize the new game or whether players can carry over accounts, cosmetics, characters or progress from RuneScape 3.
That leaves RS4 as a project with a clear setting and engine choice but few confirmed details about how it will play. The move to Unreal Engine gives Jagex room to build a newer technical foundation for RuneScape, but the studio has not yet shown how that foundation will translate into a modern MMO.