RuneScape: Iterative updates

As technology advances, old games tend to fall behind the curve and begin to seem outdated. In the MMO world, falling behind competitors in graphical quality or game design can be devastating. Many MMO studios have taken the bold step of completely rewriting their core game engines, overhauling graphics or revamping old gameplay styles, but few have done all three at once.

With the RuneScape 2 beta in December 2003, that's exactly what RuneScape's creator Jagex did. The beta concluded on March 29th 2004 and was renamed RuneScape, while the original version of the game was kept online as RuneScape Classic. In July 2008, a high-detail version of the game was released for fans with high-end computers. As well as increasing model and texture quality significantly, RuneScape HD expanded the game window to a full screen for the first time.