20 years later, Runescape and Old School Runescape are coming to Steam

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The mainline version of the game will arrive next month, with OSRS coming in 2021

(Image credit: Jagex)

Both Runescape and Old School Runescape, the retro version of Jagex's longstanding MMORPG, are coming to Steam. 

Jagex confirmed the impending Steam release of both games today. Runescape, colloquially known as Runescape 3 because it's the most modernized version of the game, will arrive on October 14. Old School Runescape, which uses the 2007 version of the game as a base, will come to Steam sometime in 2021. 

Runescape as most people knew it was originally released in 2001 and played through a browser. Jagex later adopted dedicated clients (and Old School Runescape has many third-party clients), but neither version of Runescape has ever been on such a mainstream storefront – at least, not on PC. Both games have been on mobile stores for a while now. It's no coincidence that Runescape is coming to Steam as it approaches its 20th anniversary, either. 

"Jagex is on a mission to bring the RuneScape universe to more players globally," says CEO Phil Mansell. "Following our games' arrival on mobile stores, we are now expanding the availability of the desktop versions. Making them accessible to the Steam community is an important step in achieving this goal. We're excited to see RuneScape debut on Steam from October 14th and look forward to Old School RuneScape's arrival next year, as we enable even more gamers to access and explore our rich and engaging living game worlds."

Runescape and Old School Runescape are both technically free-to-play games, but most regular players subscribe to membership programs that unlock the majority of content. As such, Jagex will offer "membership packages" through Steam. The Steam versions will also support achievements, and their Steam community hubs will double as a new spot for announcements and updates from the studio. You can view the freshly minted Steam page for Runescape here. 

Jagex recently partnered with the makers of Shadow Warrior for a (likely next-gen) multiplayer action-RPG. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.