RuneScape Hits 200 Million Registered Player Accounts

Jagex Games must really be proud. They're probably giving themselves a few congratulatory pats on the back and sipping down some beers with wide smiles across their faces over the news. Yes, the free-to-play browser game, RuneScape has managed more than 200 million registered player accounts.

The game originally came onto the scene in 2001 as an ugly little browser RPG that a lot of students, kids and at-the-office workers dabbled into as a partial pastime. However, RuneScape found a stable audience who kept coming back for more, and more, and more. Eventually the game expanded in both its size and its appearance, rivaling the quality of many other client-based free-to-play titles on the market. The game continued to expand its content not only becoming one of the most played MMOs on the market but actually becoming the biggest free-to-play MMO available. I guess, the 200 million registered accounts kind of prove that.

Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard had a few comments to share about the milestone, saying...

“Although RuneScape has achieved so much over the past decade, smashing 200 million accounts is a huge accomplishment for the dedicated development team and is thanks to our awesome community. When the game was first released, nobody could ever have expected it would reach such high levels of popularity largely by community word of mouth. It has been an incredible journey to get to where we are today, and by continuing our tradition of constantly innovating, evolving and lovingly crafting RuneScape we are certain to continue to break records by creating an online adventure like no other. We’ve witnessed a really strong resurgence in the game’s popularity over the past two years and are seeing strong player growth year on year. ”

Given that the event is so grand, Jagex has decided to celebrate by opening up a microsite where players can visit and check out some great stuff regarding this momentous achievement.

In addition to the microsite (because Jagex is like the gift that keeps on giving) there are in-game events, celebrations, contests and more happening right now in RuneScape as a way to say thanks to all those millions upon millions upon millions of fans who helped turn the game into the raving success that is today.

You can join in on the action, for free, by paying a visit to the Official RuneScape Website. You can also check out a nifty infographic of the progress Runescape has made over the years, below.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.