RuneScape Dragonwilds early access starts; Here’s what we know

Just two weeks after Jagex announced the launch of its co-op open-world game RuneScape Dragonwilds for this spring, telling the fans to get ready for a live stream on April 15, the developers have surprised everyone with early access to the game instead.

Indeed, alongside a new official trailer dropping, players have already gotten a taste of the highly anticipated, standalone, open-world survival craft adventure RuneScape: Dragonwilds in early access on Steam, according to the information retrieved on April 16.

Surprise early access to RuneScape Dragonwilds

As it happens, the game arrives only two weeks after its first trailer came out and developers announced a live stream to reveal more details, including its release date. At the time, Mod Dutch, Executive Producer of the game, provided a bit of context, setting the stage on the “long-lost continent of Ashenfall, and there, something troubling is brewing.”

“An ancient clutch of dragons led by a fierce Dragon Queen have decided to stir up trouble and Gielinor is under threat if they are not stopped. So, the players are sent North on an expedition, but then disaster strikes and they are amongst a few of the only ones who can actually reach the shores of that mysterious land.”

As a reminder, Dragonwilds isn’t an MMO, but it does feature RuneScape skills, familiar NPCs, monsters, quests, lores, as well as “base building, gear crafting, and, of course, dragons,” as Mod Dutch explained at the time (and that you can now experience yourself).

Earlier, the development studio put out a call for Alpha testers in September 2024 and has since performed exhaustive testing with the community, deciding to launch into early access in spring 2025 (which no one hoped would happen as early as April 15).

More recently, the first official trailer provided a sneak peek into the upcoming game powered by Unreal Engine 5, where players can gather resources, build shelters, unlock powerful spells, and craft weapons to survive and uncover ancient secrets in the quest to slay the Dragon Queen and reclaim Ashenfall.