RuneScape: Dragonwilds Went Survival After Surveying 100,000 Players
Jagex will release RuneScape: Dragonwilds out of early access on September 15, adding a version 1.0 build and console versions. Executive producer Jesse America said the studio weighed an action RPG, mobile projects, and ports before settling on survival crafting, a direction backed by a survey of 100,000 active RuneScape players. In that survey, action RPG, life simulation, and survival games all ranked high among genres players wanted. America said survival crafting fit RuneScape's sandbox design, where players value freedom over prescribed progression. The game entered early access on PC via Steam in April 2025 as a surprise, announced about two weeks before release. Some players started it expecting a new MMORPG, and America recalls some asking where the MMO was. He estimates playtime has grown from roughly 20 hours at launch to more than 100 hours now, and version 1.0 closes the first major story arc.