Kotaku: runescape

My, A Lot Of People Play Runescape

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:30:00 MDT

Runescape tends to fly along under most people's radars. Maybe because it's free, maybe because it's browser-based, maybe because of both. Doesn't matter! Game's still insanely popular.

Publishers Jagex have revealed that the game has had 105 million people sign up since launching eight years ago. Sure, it's free to sign up, and there'll be multiple accounts among that figure, but still. It's an impressive number.

Not as impressive as the game's active user base, though, which is a far more accurate way to gauge the health of an online game. Jagex say that, depending on whether you're "taking a day, a week, three months", Runescape has 10 million active players.

Jagex on RuneScape, MechScape and FunOrb [Eurogamer]

Wii, 360 And...Runescape Top Yahoo! Search Queries For 2008

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:30:00 MST

It's no Google, but in the absence of Google's stats, it'll have to do: according to Yahoo!, the Wii, 360, PSP and even PS3 were amongst the 10 most-searched for technology items for 2008.

Impressive, yes, but also slightly misleading. See, by limiting it to "technology", we get a doctored playing field. What would be really impressive would be if a game or console made the overall top 10. A game like, say, Runescape.

Yeah, Runescape. Yahoo! say it was the fifth most-searched word on their search engine for the year. Ahead of WoW, ahead of Eve Online, ahead of, well, all but four other words/terms in existence. That's impressive.

Back on the technology list, here's the top 10:

1. Digital Camera
2. iPhone
3. Wii
4. Xbox 360
5. PSP
6. Blackberry
7. Skype
8. PS3
9. iPod
10. Garmin

Yahoo!: Wii, Xbox 360 Most Searched Console Terms In 2008 [Gamasutra]

Runescape More Popular Than Jessica Alba

Mike Fahey — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:40:00 MST

Yahoo! has published their list of the most searched terms of 2008, and popular free MMO Runescape has actually made the cut, coming in at number 5, beating out Naruto, Jessica Alba, and Lindsay Lohan.

So how does Runescape snag top honors? One need only look at the remainder of the list to understand that a special cross-section of the populace is using Yahoo! to search the web. Half of the list reads like the front of a supermarket tabloid, with Angelina Jolie, Lohan, Alba, Miley Cyrus, and this year's number 1 search - Britney Spears. Number 2 on the list is the WWE. Of the whole list, the only two that really make sense are Barack Obama and Naruto, two characters I never thought I'd have to mention in the same sentence.

What does this say about Runescape players? I'm not going to speculate, as there are a lot more of them than there are of me.

Top 10 Searches for 2008 [Yahoo! - Thanks Alan]

Runescape Theft Lands Dutch Duo In Hot Water

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:40:00 MDT

In the Netherlands, as you may already be aware, some laws can be a little...different. One of those instances is related to gaming, in that if you're an MMO player, your virtual goods are - according to Dutch law - as good as real goods. Which is why two Runescape players, aged 15 and 14, have been convicted of coercing another player, aged 13, out of a "virtual amulet and a virtual mask". For their crimes, the 15 year-old copped 200 hours community service, while the 14 year-old was given 160 hours worth. Remember, virtual deviants: in Holland, you do the crime, you do the time.

Dutch youths convicted of virtual theft [AP]

Runescape Launches PVP Worlds

Mike Fahey — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:40:00 MDT

In the works for quite awhile, primitive though still wildly popular among fans free MMO Runescape has just launched PVP worlds, special PVP servers where players can fight against other players with their precious, precious items at risk. Characters are required to have a combat level of 20 to even enter a PVP world, where combat may be initiated anywhere but a few choice safe areas such as banks, a fact that is sure to make banks very crowded indeed.

Not only is player killing encouraged, it is even rewarded, with item drops pulled from the opposing player's inventory and a special PVP world loot table which includes new PVP specific combat items and XP increasing gloves. The more time you spend in open PVP, the better the rewards. If you can get past Runescape's dated look and feel it could very well be a free PVP paradise. Hit the link for more details.

15 October 2008 - PvP Worlds [Runescape - Thanks Alan!]

RuneScape High Detail Subscriber Beta Is Go

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:40:00 MDT

Jagex has launched the live beta of their long-awaited RuneScape update, RuneScape High Detail. The popular free browser-based MMO has had its graphics completely overhauled to better appeal to people finally ready to leave Ultima Online behind. The beta is really only a beta to forgive any bugs that might crop up, as subscribers who join the beta do so with their live characters, with anything that occurs in beta carrying over when the beta ends.

While the beta is currently only for paying subscribers, Jagex will be letting everyone else in on the fun in due time. Hit the jump for the new trailer for the title, which features the awesome blurb "Now Playable In Full Screen" which makes me giggle every time I see it.

Jagex launches member's beta of RuneScape High Detail

Jagex unveils the eagerly awaited new version of RuneScape to its one million plus subscribers

UK, Cambridge, 1st July 2008 - Jagex Ltd, the UK’s largest independent games developer, today launched RuneScape High Detail, the latest version of their hugely successful massively-multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). RuneScape High Detail has been released as a beta to subscribers with the plan to offer the same functionality to free players in the future. RuneScape High Detail is a full graphics improvement, which utilizes new technology to enhance the game graphics and, for the first time, runs the game in full screen through an internet browser.

About RuneScape

RuneScape is a massively-multiplayer online game, set in a fantasy world of warring races, ravaged landscapes and sinister powers. The game is updated twice a months with new content, quests, skills or challenges.

RuneScape remains the 2nd largest free-to-play and subscription-based MMO in the western world, with more than six million active players and over one million paying subscribers.

How Casual MMOGs Are Making Money

Maggie Greene — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:30:00 MDT

Lightspeed, a venture capital firm, checked out the average revenue per user for some casual, free to play MMOGs (Club Penguin, Habbo Hotel, Runescape, and Second Life), establishing that other that SL - which pulls in a little over $9 a month in ARPU, thanks mostly to virtual land upkeep - these sorts of casual MMOGs pull in around $1.25 ARPU per month. Which, until one considers the user bases of games like Club Penguin, seems like a damn hard way to make some money:

Second Life: $9.30/mthly user/mth
Club Penguin: $1.62/mthly user/mth
Habbo: $1.30/mthly user/mth
Runescape: $0.84/mthly user/mth

Having spoken to many other MMOGs and virtual worlds on a private basis, this estimate seems to be a good gauge for what a well performing MMOG can aspire to from a free to play business model.

Left out are a number of other popular MMOGs like MapleStory; I'd be curious to see firmer statistics for a wider spread of games, though the comments section does include some speculative numbers for a few other games.

Successful MMOGs can see $1-2 in monthly ARPU [Lightspeed via Worlds In Motion]

MMO Gold Trading Should Be Tackled By Content

Mark Wilson — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:40:44 MST

RuneScape content manager Imre Jele wins the gold star for best intelligent comment of ~~2008~~ Monday morning. When discussing the issue of black market gold trading, he explained:

"To be honest, I think instead of real-world trading, games have to be designed in a way that they provide enough fun while you are getting somewhere; if I am incapable of providing you with enough fun while you collect that 1000 gold for a steed, then the game is not good enough.

So, so true. True enough, in fact, that we'll disregard his horrible metaphor in which he likened little kids buying gold on eBay to sex-starved grownups funding dangerous, criminal prostitution rings.

Buying MMO gold is like funding prostitution [Eurogamer]

Neilsen's PC Game Rankings - Surprise

Mike Fahey — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:40:48 MDT

Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, a new system from the company that introduced the all-important television tracking system back in the 1940's, has just released their first batch of data on PC game usage for the month of June, and who came out on top may astound you. Okay, so it completely won't astound you that World of Warcraft came out on top with an average of 17 hours played a week, doubling that of its closest competitor, Halo: Combat Evolved with only 8.5 hours played per week. As you can see from the chart, most of the titles are more enduring, older games than hot new PC titles. An interesting look at PC game usage, though I suggest they save the table template with WoW at the top just to make things easier on themselves for the foreseeable future.

Top 10 MMOs

Kim Phu — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:40:00 MDT

In news outside of the console industry, the top ten most popular MMO games have been listed. Not surprisingly, World of Warcraft is sitting pretty at number one, but the rest of the list is a bit of a head scratcher. Habbo Hotel, that Finnish playable MySpace to the youth, comes in second, which begs the question,"How old do you have to be to own a credit card these days?!":

1. World of Warcraft, released 2004 - 8.5 million subscribers.
2. Habbo Hotel, released 2000 - 7.5 million active users.

3. RuneScape, released 2001 - 5 million active users.

4. Club Penguin, released 2006 - 4 million active users.

5. Webkinz, released 2005 - 3.8 million active users.

6. Gaia Online, released 2003 - 2 million active users.

7. Guild Wars, released 2005 - 2 million active users.

8. Puzzle Pirates, released 2003 - 1.5 million active users.

9. Lineage I/II, released 1998 - 1 million subscribers.

10. Second Life, released 2003 - 500,000 active users.

Both Habbo Hotel and Webkinz are for kids. When I say kids, I mean the kind that enjoy eating Ling Ling potstickers from Costco while watching Kim Possible and Gilmore Girls (yes, we're all sad it's been cancelled). I'm all for kids playing video games, but I do think it's weird that they pay to be exposed to everyone in the world. Maybe my maternal instincts are starting to kick in, but it's probably more likely that I've been watching too much "To Catch a Predator". Kim Phu

Top 10 Most Popular MMO Games List [Videogames Blogger]

Active MMO Subscriptions, '97 to '06

Joel — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 08:17:12 MDT

I have no idea what the source of this chart is, but glancing at the most current numbers it seems pretty accurate to me. (If you know the source, email me and I'll gladly update this post.)

While the dominance of World of Warcraft is unsurprising, it does look like its never-ending ascendancy may be slowing. The popular Lineage is taking a dive, nearly on par with its sequel, which for about a year was exceeding its player base. (I wonder what caused all those people to come back to Lineage in the last year?)

Can that many people be playing RuneScape? Their website says they've got 70k people or so playing right now, so I suppose a three-quarters of a million subscribers is possible, but I'd never even heard of it. Maybe we know the source of this chart after all: RuneScapes' savvy marketing team. Joel Johnson (Thanks, Llama3!)

Update: Thanks to everybody who pointed out the source of this chart, the very fine MMOGChart.com.