DeviousMUD, the forerunner to RuneScape, was created in 1998 by Andrew Gower. The game, which was never publicly released, used isometric graphics. In 1999, Gower completely rewrote the game, albeit with no improvements to the graphics or several other aspects of the game. This version was released as a public beta version for approximately one week before it was withdrawn.

As a Cambridge University undergraduate, Gower worked on a complete rewrite of the game with the assistance of his brother, Paul Gower. The isometric view was replaced by a mixture of both three-dimensional and two-dimensional sprites. The game, renamed RuneScape, was released to the public as a beta version on 4 January 2001 and was originally operated from their parents' house in Nottingham. In December 2001, the Gower brothers and Constant Tedder formed Jagex to take over the business aspects of running RuneScape. Jagex developed a programming language called RuneScript which is used to code the game.

On 27 February 2002, a monthly membership service was made available, allowing access to additional features including new areas, quests, and items.

Gameplay in RuneScape Classic.RuneScape's popularity is partially attributable to being accessible from most web browsers allowing players to play the game in many locations.

As RuneScape gained more users,[citation needed] Jagex began planning major changes.  The developers completely rewrote the game engine so that the graphics were entirely three-dimensional producing a version called RuneScape 2. A beta version was made available to paying members on 1 December 2003, and the finished version was launched on 29 March 2004. Upon release, RuneScape 2 was renamed RuneScape, and the older version of the game was kept online as RuneScape Classic. On 12 January 2006, Jagex banned more than 5000 Classic accounts due to cheating and RuneScape Classic was closed to new accounts and restricted to paying members who had played Classic at least once since 3 August 2005, and once every six months after that.

On 16 May 2006, Jagex upgraded RuneScape's game engine, primarily as a back-end upgrade rather than a visible graphical boost. RuneScape's memory requirements were significantly reduced, allowing the game to be expanded and improved without increasing the loading time for most players. The engine was upgraded once again on 26 June 2007 to allow the addition of future complex content.

Servers
 
RuneScape servers are located in seven countries; USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Finland, and Sweden.There are more than 150 RuneScape servers located throughout the world, which are numbered and referred to as worlds by players and by Jagex. They are located in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, and Finland. Servers are located in areas where they will, at the given time, provide the best connection for players in the most cost-effective manner. Servers are moved or added as the need arises.

Each of the RuneScape servers allows 2,000 players to connect simultaneously, allowing a maximum capacity of more than 300,000 players. The servers are divided into free servers for all players and member's servers. Players can play on any eligible server. Some servers are given activity labels, allowing players performing tasks that require or desire group participation, such as mini-games, to group together.

In addition to the RuneScape servers, there are two members-only servers for RuneScape Classic, both located in the United Kingdom. Each of these is limited to 1,250 players, allowing a total number of 2,500 simultaneous RuneScape Classic players. Players can no longer create new accounts for RuneScape Classic.

Advertising

To support RuneScape's free content, advertisements are displayed through an advertisement banner which is placed above the playing screen on the free-player servers. On 13 July 2006, Jagex signed an exclusive marketing and distribution contract with WildTangent Games, which granted WildTangent the right to handle advertising in and around RuneScape in the United States. The deal also allowed WildTangent to distribute RuneScape through the WildTangent Games Network, a distribution channel, reaching over 20 million consumer PCs. Jagex moderators have stated that there will be no in-game advertisements. Since computer users may use advertisement blockers which may discourage such advertisers, Jagex introduced a rule that prohibits players from blocking the advertisements in the free game.

Other languages

On 14 February 2007, Jagex released a German open beta translation of RuneScape. Currently, there are four German language servers online: three of them are free, and one is members only. These servers are presently located within Sweden and Finland. A French version of the game is also under production and they are hiring French translators on their corporate website Jagex.com.