Old School Runescape's resurgence proves it's the perfect MMO for the modern era

Back in the early 2000s, your MMO options were far more limited than what they are now. If you had a decent enough setup and 15 bucks to spare each month, you’d play World of Warcraft. For the broke kids like me, the then-$5 subscription cost and modest system requirements (it was in-browser!) made Runescape the far more palatable option. WoW has long reigned as the king of MMOs, but the recent content drought has seen even its most ardent supporters bite the bullet and give Jagex’s alternative a go, only to discover what I’ve been saying for the past two decades: Old School Runescape is peak.

Just this week, Old School Runescape topped out at over 200,000 concurrent players, just 30k shy of the record set in December 2024. This isn’t surprising, considering how en vogue one of the best MMO games is right now. Alongside the launch of OSRS’ massive Varlamore update, some of the biggest streamers in the game, including ‘AnnieFuschia,’ ‘Guzu,’ and Chance ‘Sodapoppin’ Morris, have been turning their audiences onto the joys of fishing up Dragon Harpoons, among other dopamine-eliciting in-game activities.