HTML5 ARTICLE

May 14, 2013

HTML5 Comes to RuneScape


RuneScape, a free browser-based medieval fantasy and role-playing strategy game with over 200 million registered accounts has been around since 2001. But it still hasn’t been made compatible with tablets.

HTML5 could make it a reality, Euogamer.net reports.

Mark Gerhard, the CEO of Jagex (the company that developed RuneScape) told IGN that the plan is to have MMO RuneScape released on tablets by “Q4 this year,” and says that the company is “working really, really hard to do tablets.”

It could happen, because Jagex’s is transposing RuneScape, which is traditionally a Java game, into HTML5. The switch over will result in graphical overhaul, and a total RuneScape relaunch slated for this summer.

David Solari, the chief marketer of Jagex, explains how HTML5 is taking the gaming world past previous boundaries.  

"It stretches the imagination of what’s possible on tablet right now. I mean, RuneScape would easily be the most ambitious game ever put on tablet, right? So, that excites us,” Solari said. “We’re used to taking on these crazy challenges and pushing things to the limit – HTML5 is a great example of that. A lot of people aren’t ready to go where we’ve gone already, so we think we can do it."

Gerhard considers smartphones, saying they could potentially be "a window into the game."

But smartphones probably would not be the destination for actual game playing. Gerhard added, “It’s probably as a subset or augmentation of the game rather than the core game experience.”

Gerhard is also "very excited" about Smart TVs, and sees a future for Jagex in the category, stating that the company is not "that far away from being able to do something very interesting there."

When it comes to consoles, Gerhard is curious, and finds that it would be an easy thing to make happen, but he has clear reservations, as he doesn’t want to have to split the audience to appease Sony or Microsoft’s (News Alert) online restrictions.




Edited by Alisen Downey





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