Jagex, the company behind the RuneScape series, has announced the launch of RuneScape: Dragonwilds in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
Announced earlier today via a press release, RuneScape: Dragonwilds is set to launch with localizations in Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean later this summer. This would signify the first voyage of the RuneScape IP in the APAC region.
“Bringing RuneScape: Dragonwilds to players in China, Japan, and Korea is a milestone moment for Jagex and for the RuneScape franchise,” said Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy in the announcement.
“APAC is the centre of gravity for the global gaming population, and these are among the most discerning and passionate player communities in the world. Launching in their native languages is not just a translation exercise, it is a statement of our commitment to building RuneScape into a truly global franchise, designed to thrive for the next 25 years.”
Back in September of last year, Dragonwilds was localized to Portuguese and Spanish, showcasing Jagex’s bet on Latin America as well.
According to Bellamy, the studio’s ambition is to become a “multi-product, community-powered franchise with a truly global outlook,” and see APAC as the “natural next step” in that plan.
In January of this year, UK game industry trade body UK Interactive Entertainment shared the news that Jagex achieved a $3 billion lifetime revenue milestone, thanks to RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. Since then, the team has been busy celebrating its 25th anniversary—but the celebrations come after a year of layoffs and concerns regarding rollbacks around Pride Month events.
In June 2025, Jagex laid off an undisclosed number of staff from ‘non-game development roles.’ The decision was presented as “changes to our operational structure,” according to Jagex, and were part of a strategy to build “the best experiences for players and grow the Runescape community.”
While Jagex declined to disclose the exact number of employees affected at the time, it said the vast majority are within the operations and administrative support teams.
That same month, Jagex was accused of “catering to American conservatism” after purportedly scaling back support for Pride Month events in 2025. During an interview in September 2025, Bellamy said the decision to downscale support for Pride Month-related content was made to avoid a “backlash,” as the event had become “controversial in a way it didn’t use to be.”
At the time, Bellamy said that, ultimately, his job is “governance and protection as much as anything else,” and that “these kinds of harsh decisions” have to be made to protect the imminent future of the game.
“If there are tough decisions to be made next year, we’ll make them. If the world has changed a bit and the environment is different, we will react accordingly,” he added.