RuneScape dev reveals Unreal Engine 5 survival game set in the MMO’s universe, accidentally blocks players from signing up due to Steam shenanigans

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The sign-up Steam ID issue has been fixed

Old School RuneScape Smite collab
(Image credit: Jagex / Hi-Rez / YouTube via Xbox)

RuneScape developer Jagex is finally back to discussing the open-world survival game it first cryptically announced in 2022, but eager fans who have been waiting years to hear more about the RuneScape spin-off had to climb one final mountain: Steam IDs being too long. 

"Jagex is developing a new survival game set in the RuneScape universe using Unreal Engine 5," the official Old School RuneScape X (Twitter) account posted on October 15. "We know Jagex is at its best when we're working with players, so we're looking to recruit playtesters for our Closed Alpha." 

"This reads like your account got hacked and [is] trying to phish people," said one wary reply. 

But, no, the announcement is genuine. And, even if it wasn't, any nefarious phishing scheme would have fallen through. For a brief time, the signup sheet Jagex posted was only allowing fans to submit their information if they added their 16-digit Steam ID. The only problem is that Steam IDs are 17 digits. One person took it upon themselves to tag the FBI, just in case.

Jagex quickly resolved the issue without any government intervention. So now, as long as you have a PC, as well as Steam and Discord accounts, you'll be able to sign up for the chance to test out the new survival game, which has barely any details publicly available. The signup sheet reveals that the alpha test will only be available in English, and that Jagex is hoping to have playtesters try their new game for at least 10 hours, but that's all for now. 

RuneScape creator delays his new MMO to November 6 at the last minute: "Apparently there is some sort of election thingy on the 5th - who knew?!"

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.