Old School Runescape takes after the now-defunct popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Runescape that was released in 2001. Old School Runescape, often known as ORS or OSRS is the successor of the original game and is a port of the 2007 build of Runescape. In February 2013, its developer Jagex Games Studio announced that this version of the game will be released. Jagex then subsequently conducted a poll to ascertain the interest of the players. One more reason for conducting the poll was to also fully evaluate if the game will be offered free-to-play or pay-to-play. Old School Runescape was then released the same month and, until this very day, has remained free-to-play although it also has a pay-to-play feature.

It seems that Old School Runescape is an imitation of the very first Runescape for the average player. Still, the game added new yet exciting components that have effectively made it a standalone game. The Ironman Mode that bans economic transactions such as banks, the Deadman Mode with higher experience gain but is only available seasonally, Leagues which happen to be task-based at a short period of time period and with corresponding rewards, and the Great Kourend map with assorted topographies in it, are only some of the new game features present in Old School Runescape only.

The most defining feature of the game, however, is the fact that it has a mobile version. The mobile client was launched in October 2018 and quickly became by far the most downloaded applications as few as two weeks after its release. When old school runescape Runescape page on Google Play Store or on the App Store, its exceptional ratings and high reviews are immediately noticeable. Uniquely, the mobile version of Old School Runescape allows cross-platform access making the game playable anytime and anywhere, on PC or on cellular devices.

Usual MMORPG modes such as quest completion, crafting and enhancement of items and equipment, player-versus-player or doing tasks in parties are added with new modes. The decision to mix new features with classic ones became the equation towards its great success, marking the game as a well-developed and all-around popular one. In fact, Old School Runescape enjoys typically a hundred thousand active players at any given moment and over five million players have installed the game both on PC and mobile.

The British Academy Games Awards, Develop:Star Awards, and the Pocket Gamer Mobile Awards are some of the major awarding bodies that has recognized Old School Runescape. Old School Runescape was awarded as “Best Mobile Game” and “EE Mobile Game of the Year” by these organizations. The awards that Old School Runescape received signify the great feat that Jagex Games Studio has achieved in developing a game that incorporates the old and the new.

Old School Runescape is proof that the game does not necessarily have to be complex or cutting edge just to be successful. Old School Runescape has become an exceptionally successful world-wide game even with its ‘vintage’ two dimensional graphcis.