A quick glance at the trending charts on Steam shows a surprising entry climbing the ranks. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is topping indie darling Blue Prince in the Trending and Recent Release charts on Steam after shadow dropping into Early Access today. The game was previously announced late last month by developer Jagex, and many might have expected to wait a bit longer for this new, standalone entry in the RuneScape universe. However, during a live stream today, Jagex confirmed that the Early Access release for its new RuneScape: Dragonwilds game is today, April 15th.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a co-op survival game for between 1-4 players from developer Jagex Ltd. It’s set on the continent of Ashenfall and sees players contending with the dangerous Dragon Queen. As you might expect from a RuneScape title, there are survival and crafting elements as players navigate the open-world RPG. The new RuneScape game launched into Early Access on Steam today, giving players a chance to check out what the game has to offer. It is currently only available on Steam and costs $29.99 for Early Access.
Those who buy the game in Early Access will get Early Adopter rewards, which include: Pioneer's Scarf, Pioneer’s Tapestry, Pioneer’s Cape, and 2 pieces of music from the game. If you’re curious about what lies ahead for this brand-new entry in the RuneScape franchise, the developers have already laid out an Early Access roadmap for RuneScape: Dragonwilds.
Like any game in Early Access on Steam, the developers have shared some notes about their plan for the Early Access period. Currently, Jagex estimates that RuneScape: Dragonwilds will be in Early Access until early 2026. The full version of the game will add more skills, spells, and systems, along with new quests and enemies. As for what you’ll get if you opt into Early Access right now? The current version of the game has a few regions to offer, as well as RuneScape skills, magic survival spells, and the game’s first dragon.
Players will be able to get familiar with the building system, combat, dungeons, and survival systems, as well. There is already a rough Early Access roadmap available, highlighting some of the first additions to the game during its Early Access period. Players can expect to see a new region and new dragon in the first Early Access update, followed by new magic, ranged, and farming skills. Down the line, we’ll see more new quests, lore and gear, along with plenty of other added content to flesh out the game.
Ongoing improvements and bug fixes are also part of the plan, especially in terms of fixing performance, balancing combat, and making sure multiplayer works as it should. Throughout the Early Access period, Jagex plans to continue collecting player feedback via the RuneScape: Dragonwilds Discord channel. So, if you decide to jump in during the Early Access period and want to offer feedback, you may want to consider joining the Discord.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is available now in Early Access for PC via Steam. It costs $29.99 and will require an Epic Games account to access multiplayer features. Are you planning to check out the newly revealed RuneScape: Dragonwilds? Let us know in the comments below!
RuneScape: Dragonwilds was announced just a couple of weeks ago, and today developer Jagex hosted a livestream where they showed a deep-dive of the game and revealed the game's release date. Turns out, it's today! As in right now, today, as in you can go to Steam to buy the game in early access if that's something you'd be interested in. This'll be quite a different RuneScape experience than you might be used to, though, as this spin-off from the long-running MMO is one of those open world, co-op, survival crafting kind of games.
The Steam page makes it clear that the game is still "RuneScape at its core", as you'll have quests to venture out on, magic to use to craft homes and fight enemies, and there's even some "light RPG elements" too. It's still a multiplayer experience too, as up to four of you can play together as you set out to slay the Dragon Queen. Oh, yeah, dragons aren't your friends unfortunately, you have to kill them, which I suppose is the traditional thing to do to the scaly creatures.
Overall, it looks something akin to Valheim, albeit with that general RuneScapey vibe. In a press release, Jagex said they're planning regular updates for the game, with a big focus on "listening closely to the community" - hence the early access release, I suppose. I'm not entirely convinced by how the game looks just yet; I think it'll need a bit more of a hook than multiplayer survival crafting game, but it's RuneScape. The genre's just a bit too saturated these days. I like the sound of there being quests rather than just self-directed play as many games of its ilk tend to be, fingers crossed Jagex leans into that a bit to help Dragonwilds stand out.
