The Truth About RuneScape's World Records

RuneScape is an early internet relic that still manages to thrive today. Ever since RuneScape was released in 2001, the title has received a ton of recognition for all of its incredible achievements. After all, being one of the first 3D MMORPGs to ever exist on the internet didn't hurt. And since that was the case, RuneScape had no problem hitting milestone after milestone. 

During an interview with Engadget, RuneScape's co-creator, Andrew Gower, offered a few explanations as to why the game became such a huge success. One of the main reasons RuneScape blew up had to do with how easy it was to access the game. Since most computer games during the early 2000s required a disc to play, RuneScape really stood out — it was free and only needed an internet connection. While the game's graphics weren't necessarily the most revolutionary, players were still drawn to the game. And in the end, so many users were on RuneScape that it managed to snag a couple of monumental world records.

One of RuneScape's most outstanding achievements is its incredible population. In 2017, RuneScape received an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the "Most users of an MMO videogame." During this time, the game had over 250 million registered users, prompting Jagex, the game's developers, to celebrate the milestone by hosting a daily draw in which the luckiest players would receive 250 million gold coins.

RuneScape's impressive population wasn't the only achievement that was noted by the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2013, RuneScape snagged the record for "Greatest aggregate time playing an MMO," which was 443 billion minutes. In 2017, RuneScape was also noted for having the "Most original pieces of a music in a video game" (over 1,100 tracks), and was also the "Most prolifically updated MMORPG video game," hosting over 1,000 updates since 2001. RuneScape is truly a juggernaut among MMOs.