RuneFest 2025

Why is that monster holding a sword?

...is what my daughter asked me as I showed her pictures of my weekend working at RuneFest. For those of you outside of RuneScape, RuneFest is a festival hosted by Jagex for players of their games (primarily RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. There have now been ten of these events and I have been lucky to attend as a JMOD (Jagex Employee) for eight of them. The venue changes periodically based on requirements and availability but most have been either London or southern England. This year though RuneFest moved north to be hosted at the Birmingham NEC!

So what is it like?

How does one describe RuneFest to someone who has never attended? Well, you can draw parallels with the likes of Blizzcon, Quakecon etc although those are much larger in size. It is a chance for players of Jagex games to see upcoming content, meet fellow players, learn about game development and meet the staff that make Gielinor come to life.

In my opinion, what Jagex does better than anyone else is their closeness to their customers and community. Most staff have public social media accounts, the Jagex CM teams listen very closely to player sentiment and suggestions, and almost every JMOD really does care deeply about their role in the adventure. For me, the eye opening part was that as a web developer, I am not the holder of the most exciting role at Jagex as say, a game designer or content developer. But I attend RuneFest and meet 100s of players, sign countless autograph books and t-shirts and chat with players about something that means the world to them even more than it does to me.

I have worked for Jagex since 2011, initially on a game that sadly never saw the light of day, Stellar Dawn. From there, I moved across many teams but eventually settled into what is commonly known as the web team where I deliver web technologies to support all of Jagex's products. However, we are responsible for many systems beyond just the website, including account operations, The Jagex Launcher App, billing systems, user data processing, internal tool support, and the list goes on... I would expect this answer to shoot an arrow through the average player's enthusiasm at RuneFest, but if anything, it gets them more excited. I have chatted to fan site owners, clan leaders and endless people about how I could make their experience better - and how much they love what we do. I cannot imagine that happening anywhere else in the world ever!

Working at RuneFest

All staff have the option to volunteer for RuneFest and most who volunteer will attend. Planning for the event is done by a small team of miracle workers who start over a year in advance usually. They do a super-human level of effort before most of the company gets involved.

For JMODs not doing on-stage presentations we will be assigned roles inside the event for stations like ticket entry, help desk, stage support, merch store, or even my personal favourite; skill chip activities,

What are Skillchip Activities you ask? All attendees at RuneFest have the option to participate in "IRL" activities of quests throughout the venue. Everything from breaking into bank vaults, launching catapults, climbing through spider webs - you name it, RuneFest has done it. On successful completion of a task you are awarded a Skillchip and the full set unlocks an additional chip that can all be stored and presented in a RuneFest chip presentation box.

This year I was assigned to the photo-booth Skillchip activity for both days of RuneFest. The activity was loosely based on the RuneScape quest "Goblin Diplomacy". Players would have to convince us which weapons or equipment was best for their photo. Then proceed to have a photo taken against a location in Gielinor of their choice. After their photo they would perform an emote to one of the JMODs who would reward them with a goblin skillchip.

With thousands of attendees this was no walk in the park. After clapping all of the excited adventurers into the venue I took up my position along with the other JMODs on the activity, and we spent the next seven hours taking photos alongside the photography crew of players from all over the world. These included regular players, cos play participators, long standing players who would often remember a familiar faced staff member and on one occasion the urn of a player who sadly did not make it to the event but always wanted to attend - yeah that choked us all up a bit but a wonderful moment.

Despite the size of the quest ahead it was great to talk to so many players and even a few familiar faces. We

On breaks, it was awe-inspiring to walk around the event and just take it all in. How did a game made by a few brothers in a garage reach this scale of awesome? Truly RuneScape and Old School RuneScape have defeated all odds and continue to quest into newfound lands that time and again prove neigh-sayers wrong.

In the evening we could grab some beers and enjoy the entertainment along with the players to either chat, dance or just relax. It is undoubtedly one of the best perks of working at Jagex.

At the end of the weekend, after everyone leaves the JMODs head back for one final meeting and thank you. But unbeknown to any of us on our way out - many of the players and security stayed outside to clap us out. So if the urn did not choke you this moment truly did. Every single JMOD (and I mean everyone) received this ovation as we walked towards the staff room to collect our belongings. Almost something out of a film scene.

Through all the hard work and exhaustion, I think that moment will live with me for the rest of my career wherever it takes me. Always stay grounded to what really matters on creating computer games - making people happy. Without that we are just software developers, and without players we would be nothing at all!