RuneScape will release on mobile in June 2021, which is a big experiment for Jagex. While less modern iterations of the game like Old School RuneScape already exist on mobile, this is the first time the main title will be portable. According to Jagex, the mobile port is at least five years in the making, so marks a huge milestone for the 20-year-old MMO. The game is well known for its menu customization, so fitting this array of menus onto a tiny screen was no easy feat, and involved a radical engine overhaul for the MMO. As such, the mobile version of the game relies heavily on gesture controls.

According to developers, the creation of these gesture inputs makes ports for platforms like the Nintendo Switch possible. In an interview with Game Rant, RuneScape Product Director Matt Casey and Senior Product Manager Liam Powney talked about how the new mobile control scheme could lend itself well to a Switch port. After previous releases onto Mac and Steam, the upcoming mobile version is the first proper foray onto other platforms.

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Both Powney and Casey remarked on the mobile development process, and what it might have in store for the game. Unsurprisingly, it took a lot of work to condense such a sprawling MMO onto a tiny mobile display, and as such players might well see all that work reused for a handheld console release in the future, especially with a console that has touch screen controls.

Fitting a large game onto a handheld device like a phone is not easy. Even with more powerful hardware like the Switch, ports of big games can often go wrong. A prime example of this was The Outer Worlds. The Switch port for The Outer Worlds was notorious and showcased the dangers of not carefully optimizing a game for a platform.

Thanks to a five-year development period, RuneScape's mobile port seems to be on a better track. The moment-to-moment action of RuneScape is governed by a player's ability to navigate a sea of different menus and associated actions. On a desktop this is relatively straightforward, as players can line up their menus and actions anywhere they want on their screen.

Powney detailed how Jagex translated the MMO to mobile touch controls. The real "magnum opus" of the mobile port was sorting out these gesture controls. "When it comes to combat, we've made sure that on mobile you can access a good number of action bars." These menus slide out with the swipe of a finger, which is a smart way of condensing such a complex control system onto mobile. For consoles with gesture compatibility and control, a RuneScape port becomes easier to imagine.

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Casey looked at this new control method as part of the game's cross-platform future. "It's weird," he said, as despite the game's 20 years on desktop, "RuneScape is a game that you want to be accessible from wherever you are, whatever you're doing and whatever you're playing on." According to the team, one aim for RuneScape's future is a large, cross-platform MMO.

The work done on this touch screen API for mobile means if the game were to make its way onto consoles, the Nintendo Switch would be a logical first choice. Casey remarked on how the game's mobile port laid the path toward platforms like the Switch.

"We're definitely exploring other options, looking at things that it lends itself to well. There's definite complications with Xbox and PlayStation in terms of controls. But, things like the Switch, where you've got a touchscreen - we've done some of the groundwork there. So, it makes sense for us to to start looking into some of these areas as well."

It seems after the mobile release in June, the team will continue to move the game to other hardware. Powney added that the "mobile team will eventually evolve beyond the mobile team." For Jagex, RuneScape "is a marathon, not a sprint," according to Powney, and a massive expansion onto consoles like the Switch certainly seems possible.

"No promises or anything guaranteed, but I'd love to see it available. We talk a lot about how cross-play is really important, but to me RuneScape is a game that should be available wherever you are; whatever you're on."

RuneScape is available now on PC, and it will release on mobile platforms in June 2021.

MORE: Jagex Developers Discuss How Mobile Ports Made RuneScape More Accessible