60 Fun Facts About RuneScape

In what year did RuneScape first go live as a public beta?

It launched on 4 January, and by the end of that year the Gower brothers had set up a company to run the business side of the game.

The earliest RuneScape servers ran out of the Gower family home in which English city?

The game only later moved to a proper office; the company is now headquartered on a science park in a different city entirely.

What is the name of the fantasy world in which RuneScape is set?

The world has been explored well beyond the game itself, in tie-in novels such as Betrayal at Falador and Return to Canifis.

Which businessman joined Andrew and Paul Gower as the third founder of Jagex and served as its first CEO?

He was later replaced by a former European CEO of PayPal, and all three founders left the board of directors in December 2010.

Andrew Gower's earlier game, the direct predecessor of RuneScape, was called what?

It was a Java game with 2D isometric graphics, and its second version was briefly released as a public beta before the rewrite that became RuneScape.

In which year was RuneScape 2, with its fully three-dimensional engine, officially released?

It had been announced as a 'much faster 3D engine' back in June 2002, and paying members got a beta from December 2003.

After RuneScape 2 arrived, the original game stayed online under what one-word suffix?

It stayed online for another fourteen years on a handful of servers before finally being shut down in August 2018.

Old School RuneScape was built from a backup of the game dating from which month?

The backup was found in the company's archives and initially launched as an exact copy, though it has since taken on a life of its own.

How many votes did the 2013 poll need before Jagex would open Old School RuneScape servers?

The servers opened once that mark was hit, though the final tally fell just short of a bigger reward tier that would have promised extra incentives.

What was the final vote count of the 2013 poll that created Old School RuneScape?

The total missed the 500,000-vote reward tier, but Jagex granted several of that tier's promises anyway, including player voting on new content.

RuneScape 3 launched in which month?

It arrived the same year Old School RuneScape opened, giving the franchise two live versions that have run side by side ever since.

RuneScape 3 was originally developed as a version built on which web technology?

That client never left beta; at RuneFest 2014 the company announced a replacement standalone client instead.

Guinness credits RuneScape with the most original music of any video game. How many tracks did it count in July 2017?

Early tracks were MIDI creations; after RuneScape 3, many new pieces were recorded with live orchestras in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The October 2011 anti-bot update nicknamed the 'Bot Nuke' had what official code name?

Jagex estimated it wiped out 98 percent of bot accounts, and celebrated with a week of bonus events including triple Slayer experience.

The release of which skill triggered the infamous Falador Massacre?

A bug let some players keep player-versus-player privileges after leaving a player-owned house, and PC Gamer later called it one of the best-known bugs in MMO history.

The Falador Massacre took place on which date, giving it its '666' nickname?

It happened on world 111 during a house party thrown by the first player to reach level 99 in the newly released skill.

Which player behind the Falador Massacre returned as a boss in its 10th anniversary event?

In the 2016 event players were randomly possessed by his ghost, and a giant version of him could be fought in Falador on world 666.

The original coloured partyhats came out of which item during RuneScape's first Christmas event?

Most players pulled them immediately for the rune items inside; the hats themselves were nearly worthless at the time.

How many different colours of partyhat were handed out in the original Christmas event?

Two more colours have since been added: a golden one in 2021 and a black one at Christmas 2023.

A November 2003 duplication glitch made which partyhat colour, previously the rarest, the least valuable?

Players assumed the glitchers had targeted that colour, and the perception stuck long after the duplicated hats were dealt with.

In the Draynor Bank Robbery, the Wise Old Man telegrabs and puts on a partyhat of which colour?

He confesses to the whole crime during the Love Story quest, and players can watch the bank's security recording of it for 50 coins.

What was the first quest ever released in RuneScape?

It was one of the handful of quests available at launch and was originally developed by Paul Gower.

In the game's first quest, the cook needs a bucket of milk, an egg and which third ingredient?

Players grind wheat at the mill north of the castle to make it, unless they simply buy the ingredients and finish the quest in seconds.

The Lumbridge cook is baking a birthday cake for which noble?

The same duke hands out the anti-dragon shield later in a player's career, and speaking to him for the first time earns the 'Hail to the Duke, Baby' achievement.

In the free-to-play quest Dragon Slayer, what is the name of the dragon players must kill?

She is a green dragon far tougher than her kin, with dragonfire that can drain a player's stats, including prayer.

The Dragon Slayer quest sends players by ship to which island to face the dragon?

The map to get there was torn into three pieces by the surviving mages Melzar, Thalzar and Lozar, and the ship, the Lady Lumbridge, catches fire on the way.

Completing Dragon Slayer lets free-to-play players finally equip which piece of armour?

It needs 40 Defence too, and it can be smithed from five runite bars by anyone with level 99 Smithing.

What is the capital city of the kingdom of Misthalin, ruled by King Roald from his palace?

It was originally known as Avarrocka and is the largest city available to free players.

Which god of RuneScape's pantheon is the god of balance, and the last of the Naragi race?

His symbol is a stylised depiction of his tears, usually shown in green.

Which god's symbol is a four-pointed star, usually coloured gold or silver?

He was born a human and is thought to be the most widely worshipped god in the game world.

Which god began as a Mahjarrat, became the Zarosian Empire's top general, and dethroned Zaros?

His coup ended the Second Age and set off the four-thousand-year God Wars.

In RuneScape's December 2010 referendum, what share of voters wanted free trade and Wilderness PvP back?

Around 1.2 million votes were cast, and both features returned on 1 February 2011.

Old School RuneScape's Grand Exchange narrowly passed its 2015 poll with what percentage of yes votes?

The threshold at the time was 75 percent, so it squeaked through by barely more than a point.

Jagex first introduced paid membership in which month?

The dot-com crash had dried up advertising revenue, so subscriptions were brought in to cover hosting and development costs.

How many subscribers signed up in the first hour after paid membership launched?

It made RuneScape one of the largest Java pay-to-play games in the world at the time.

How many skills are there in Old School RuneScape?

The count only grew in November 2025 with the arrival of the game's first brand-new skill.

Which skill, released in November 2025, is the only one exclusive to Old School RuneScape?

It had been an April Fools' joke in the main game back in 2014, complete with a fake level-up table.

Which combat style, added to RuneScape in 2023, sits outside the traditional combat triangle?

It was the game's 29th skill and the first combat skill to go all the way to level 120.

RuneScape 3's Invention skill requires level 80 Smithing, Crafting and which other skill?

Because of that requirement, free-to-play players cannot train it at all.

Which Old School RuneScape skill starts at level 10 instead of level 1?

The main game renamed the same skill Constitution.

How much experience is needed to reach level 99 in a regular RuneScape skill?

Hitting 99 sets off a fireworks animation that everyone nearby can hear, and unlocks a purchasable skillcape.

What Attack level is needed to wield the abyssal whip in Old School RuneScape?

It attacks as fast as a dagger, and its Energy Drain special can siphon run energy from another player.

The Chambers of Xeric, Old School RuneScape's first raid, lies beneath which mountain?

The chambers were built by Xeric's personal artisan Tekton after Xeric was exiled from Great Kourend, and they are where the coveted bow that scales with a target's Magic level drops.

Which boss must be defeated at the end of the TzHaar Fight Cave to earn the fire cape?

It has a max hit of 97 across all three of its attack styles, and the cape is forfeited if the player and boss die at the same time.

Zulrah, the level 725 solo boss of Old School RuneScape, is what kind of creature?

It was a discarded dragonkin experiment that grew in a swamp and eventually ate its own creator.

What was the name of Old School RuneScape's first League, which began in November 2019?

Players were confined to Great Kourend and the Kebos Lowlands with five times the normal experience rate.

Old School RuneScape won which award at the 2019 British Academy Games Awards?

It also picked up Best Mobile Game at the Develop:Star Awards the same year.

Jagex is headquartered on a science park in which English city?

The company was founded by the Gower brothers in 1999 and now belongs to CVC Capital Partners.

CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments bought Jagex from the Carlyle Group in 2024 for how much?

Four years earlier the studio had changed hands for $530 million, and Carlyle took its stake in January 2021.

After Jagex's first non-Java release in 2010, what was its name said to stand for instead of 'Java Gaming Experts'?

The game that forced the rebrand was the Flash-based strategy title War of Legends.

Which system replaced the Squeal of Fortune prize wheel in February 2014?

GameSpot later described it as effectively a loot box; it was finally removed in January 2026 after more than 120,000 players voted it out.

The 2016 Gower Quest, celebrating the game's 15th anniversary, cast Andrew, Paul and Ian Gower as what?

The brothers, working on their farm in Misthalin, cannot get their cabbages to grow, and the real Andrew and Paul acted as guest designers.

At which 2008 event did Jagex receive a Guinness certificate for the world's most popular free MMORPG?

The following year that convention was effectively replaced when the show moved to a new host city.

In which year did Old School RuneScape arrive on iOS and Android?

The cross-play mobile port was previewed at the Game Developers Conference that spring and released on 30 October; the main game followed on mobile in 2021.

What genre is RuneScape: Dragonwilds, the spin-off that entered Steam Early Access in April 2025?

It is due to leave early access in September 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Besides being unable to trade, what can Ultimate Ironman accounts in Old School RuneScape not do?

Ironman modes arrived on 13 October 2014 to make progression self-sufficient; Deadman Mode runs on separate open-PvP servers.

What share of yes votes does an Old School RuneScape feature poll need to pass?

Bug fixes, integrity changes and some balancing changes are exempt from polling altogether.

What was Botany Bay, a feature Jagex introduced in 2012 and removed in 2018?

It followed the 2011 'Bot Nuke', which Guinness later listed as the most bots banned in a week at 7.7 million.

Solomon's General Store, RuneScape's cosmetic shop launched in July 2012, uses which currency?

It opened three months after Jagex began selling extra Squeal of Fortune spins for real money, the game's first gameplay-linked microtransactions.

Which Jagex CEO had called microtransactions 'a stealth tax' before the 2012 spin sales?

The contradiction fuelled player anger at the move, and the system's successor was finally removed after a community vote in January 2026.