In yesterday’s news, it was announced that RuneScape and Old School RuneScape will be making the leap to mobile. Not only that, they will be playable on PC and mobile and all that great stuff. This is really the first MMO to truly move into the mobile market. RuneScape has a rich history and follows a simple interface which has changed over the years, but maintains a huge core following. Here are five benefits to having RuneScape make the leap to mobile. Overall, we could see a lot of MMOs follow suit quickly.
5. Keeping Your Character
Runescape’s opening line is that you can keep your character and play anywhere. This will be fantastic for players who may have lost touch with the game and hope to log back in. Moving back and forth within the game world will make the real world interesting as many will likely play on mobile at work. Switching back and forth with the same character is every MMO player’s dream.
4. Old School Runescape on Mobile
Already a hugely popular product among fans. Old School Runcescape heralds back to a time when MMOs first began. To have this already popular world playable on mobile will bring another entire segment to the MMO market. It will be interesting given how in depth Runescape is for fans. However, players can now take these games anywhere.
3. Who will follow suit?
The question quickly arises on who will follow and port their game to mobile? Ultima Online would seem like a solid choice, but we have not heard much from the nearing 20 year old MMO. It also becomes a question of game play. Early MMOs had clean driving tools and complex interfaces with hot bars and skill trees. It has been only recently that games have simplified the approach. It will be curious to see what other games can make the leap successfully and build on their following. As far as early MMOs goes, the isometric viewpoint does lend itself well to mobile. However, the classic third person view on MMOs also will work well. The tricky part comes in the form of the controls. Albion Online is already there and hosts a similar platform to Runescape.
2. Will we see more mobile MMOs?
The mobile MMO market continues to pick up lately as games are much more in depth for players. With games like Crusaders of Light making a splash right now it may show that online worlds have a strong place in the mobile market. These games however are designed strictly for mobile. Perhaps if they become more complex you’ll see them port to PC as well.
1. A Whole New Community
Many players will rejoin Runescape now that it is on mobile. This could mark a huge boost for both versions of the game. Jagex has always had a strong community, but this definitely takes them to the next level. We are very excited to see this announcement over the summer and plan to join the game on mobile this winter.
