New Jagex CEO Vows RuneScape Will Be the West’s No. 2 MMO Behind World of Warcraft in 5 Years — And Claims It’s Already Close

New Jagex boss Jon Bellamy has a simple mission statement that is anything but small: make RuneScape as a whole either the biggest MMO franchise in the West, or at least the undisputed runner-up, inside about five years. CEO says he wants growth is hardly shocking. What is interesting is how blunt he is about where Jagex will spend its time and which sacred cows he plans to poke.

The goal, said out loud

"I would like Old School RuneScape, RuneScape 3, and Dragonwilds as a collective RuneScape franchise to be, if not the biggest, then clearly the second biggest MMO franchise in the Western world."

All-in on RuneScape, even after a flashy new launch

Bellamy told The Game Business that, yes, the studio just rolled out the survival spin-off RuneScape: Dragonwilds to strong interest, and Jagex has been busy publishing other titles in recent years. Still, the marching orders are clear: for the next five-ish years, Jagex is a RuneScape company first, second, and third. His vibe is strengthen your strengths, not chase every weakness. Or, in his words, think less about building new toys and more about making the thing Jagex is known for undeniable.

Old School is huge, RuneScape 3 is not, and he wants to close that gap

Old School RuneScape hit a record 240,000 concurrent players earlier this year. That makes OSRS roughly eight times bigger than RuneScape 3 right now. Bellamy wants to shrink that gulf and rehab RS3's reputation by tightening up the game's integrity and walking back the microtransactions that have defined it for years.

The microtransaction reckoning

He is firm on one line in the sand: microtransactions are not coming to Old School RuneScape. Full stop. On RS3, expect meaningful changes. He is willing to accept revenue dip risk to fix it, calling it short-term pain for long-term health. The intent is to rebuild trust and make the game feel like a game first, a store second.

Are they already near that second-place spot?

Bellamy says they are closer than people think. He hears the same reaction a lot when folks see OSRS numbers: surprise. He also points to a squishy-but-interesting stat from an unnamed research tool that tracks YouTube, Google searches, and general online chatter. According to his recent check, Old School RuneScape currently leads mindshare among Western MMOs. That is not the same as active players in a database, but it does align with the OSRS surge the last few months.

The plan, in plain English

• Focus the studio on RuneScape across its versions: Old School, RuneScape 3, and Dragonwilds.
• Never bring microtransactions to Old School RuneScape.
• Dial back RS3 monetization to restore integrity, even if revenue dips in the short term.
• No big acquisitions or sprawling new projects on the horizon.
• Stack small gains: 1-3% improvements across a hundred different parts of the games, every year, for the next five years.
• Narrow the player gap between OSRS and RS3 and keep OSRS momentum rolling.
• Aim to land either the top spot or a clear number two in the Western MMO market, without directly name-checking the genre’s longtime champ you are already thinking about.

The weird little data point that might matter

That 'mindshare' claim is inside baseball and not exactly audited, but if creators and search traffic are clustering around OSRS more than anything else in the West right now, that is fuel for Bellamy's thesis: do more of what you are great at, and do it better everywhere, not just in headline features.

Recent history backs the momentum

Remember the 2025 summer MMO migration that saw players bouncing between the big games? Old School RuneScape benefited from that wave, and even the devs joked that, of all the problems to have in the world, too many players is one of the best. Bellamy's plan is basically to make sure that kind of influx is sustainable rather than a seasonal blip.