What Is the Difference Between RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and RuneScape: Dragonwilds?

Updated

Jagex's three RuneScape titles share one universe but are three different games: RuneScape is the long-running, continuously updated MMORPG; Old School RuneScape is a separate, deliberately older-feeling MMORPG where progress is slow and player-driven; RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a survival-crafting adventure set on the continent of Ashenfall, not a persistent MMO in the same sense. If you want the modern, evolving version of the classic formula, start with RuneScape. If you want the version that preserves an earlier era of play, choose Old School. If you want survival, crafting, and dragon-slaying rather than questing through a persistent world, Dragonwilds is the one to look at.

The three games side by side

RuneScape Old School RuneScape RuneScape: Dragonwilds
Genre MMORPG MMORPG Survival-based adventure
Positioning on jagex.com "The Classic Adventure Reborn" — a charmingly unpredictable adventure 25 years in the making "Gielinor, like it used to be" — the timeless, player-shaped MMO where every grind matters and every achievement is earned "A survival based Adventure" — survive, craft and slay dragons together in the untamed continent of Ashenfall
Setting Gielinor Gielinor Ashenfall
Pace and feel Continuously updated, modern take on the formula Deliberately older rhythm; grind and earned achievement are the point Session-based survival and crafting, played together

How to choose

  • You want the flagship, actively evolving MMORPG. RuneScape is described by Jagex as a living world built over more than 25 years, and it is the version the company presents first on its site.
  • You want the older ruleset and a world shaped heavily by its players. Old School RuneScape is framed around "every grind matters and every achievement is earned" — pick it if slow, earned progress is appealing rather than a drawback.
  • You want survival and crafting rather than a persistent questing MMO. RuneScape: Dragonwilds puts you on Ashenfall to survive, craft, and slay dragons together. Note that Jagex has announced a console release for Dragonwilds alongside PC, which is a first for a RuneScape title.

What jagex.com itself offers

The site is the studio's hub rather than a single game page. From it you can reach each game's own "Discover" entry point, the official RuneScape merch store (described as the largest online range of officially licensed apparel and collectibles, from T-shirts and hoodies to collectible pieces), the company's news and press releases, and its careers section — Jagex describes itself as a creative, collaborative, player-first studio.

A practical note before you commit

All three share the RuneScape world and lore, so time spent in one is not wasted familiarity — but progress does not carry between them, and the moment-to-moment experience differs enough that picking by genre first (MMORPG vs. survival) will narrow the choice faster than picking by setting.