Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy revealed in a LinkedIn post recently that during its first week of Early Access on Steam, new spin-off survival crafting RPG RuneScape: Dragonwilds sold over 600,000 copies.
For a spin-off game in a saturated genre based on a multi-decade old free-to-play MMORPG, that’s a really strong debut.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds Early Access Debut
I decided to check out RuneScape: Dragonwilds right when it surprise launched and I came away extremely impressed with not only how feature complete it already feels, but how fresh its mechanics are in a sea of lookalike crafting survival games. All the staples of the genre are present, but they have a unique Runescape-twist that lends a distinctive charm and personality. You couldn’t really ask for a better Early Access launch.
“The response from players, the RuneScape community, and the industry so far has exceeded even our most hopeful expectations,” Bellamy said in his LinkedIn post. “And it’s reminded me just how much games — and the people behind them — can still surprise, and inspire us in the most unexpected ways. It’s the alchemy of this industry.”
The reception is strong in terms of player sentiment and engagement as well. With over 13,000 reviews as of the time of this writing, 85% of them are positive which gives the game a ‘Very Positive’ designation. According to Steam Charts, peak concurrent players surpassed 50,000 or hovered near it for multiple days in a row.
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Furthermore, in that same LinkedIn post, Bellamy goes on to state RuneScape: Dragonwilds reached the global #1 top seller rank on all of Steam during its launch week, climbed to the #3 most-watched slot on all of Twitch, and clocked an average play session length of over two hours so far across all users.
Fortunately, the roadmap is very strong with plans for new regions, new dragons, new skills, new quests, and much more. Just about every aspect of the game has planned upgrades and expansions during Early Access, which is a really positive sign.
You can check out RuneScape: Dragonwilds now in Steam Early Access and see what it’s like in its current state, and even take on an active role in the community to help shape its development.
