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Jagex pairs RuneScape with MoistCr1TiKaL's company and the studio already making his Godslap film
Jagex is turning its 25-year-old RuneScape into an animated series with YouTuber Charlie White's Meatier Productions and Lyrical Animation. Lyrical has built adaptations around YouTubers before, so Jagex gets a fan's name and a studio's production together.
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What happened
- CEO Jon Bellamy revealed the series at RuneFest in Birmingham on October 3, right after the Old School RuneScape keynote.
- White's animated Godslap film, made with the same two production companies, is already in production and targeting a 2028 release.
- Lyrical is also co-producing Death Stranding: Mosquito and a Bloodborne film produced by YouTuber Sean 'jacksepticeye' McLoughlin.
- RuneScape had already expanded past the original MMO with RuneScape Dragonwilds, a survival game.
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Why it matters
- constraint Until Jagex names a platform, the new audience Bellamy described has no route to the show, so the first people to judge it will be existing players.
- decision A game team copying this approach is choosing an animation house with a creator attached, so the studio's production record needs as much vetting as the creator's audience.
- precedent With White back for a second Lyrical project, a creator producer looks like the studio's standard offer to the next IP owner that approaches it.
A RuneScape player in the RuneFest audience got the strategy in one sentence. "When we talk about the future of RuneScape, we don't just mean games," Bellamy said [4]. Development is at an early stage, so there is nothing yet for that player to watch [8].
Bellamy named two audiences. "We see huge potential to bring Gielinor to life in new ways, both for the millions who already know and love it and for a whole new audience," he said [6]. Those are two different jobs. The choice of partner speaks to the first group: White is a longtime RuneScape player [12]. The second group has to find the show somewhere. Where it will stream is still open, and so are the voice cast and the release date [7].
The pitch is a longtime player bringing his game to animation [1]. The production record behind it looks like a studio slate. According to Dexerto, Meatier Productions will produce alongside Lyrical Animation [2], and Gizmodo describes the series as handled by Lyrical [10]. On Godslap, the hand-drawn animation went to a third company, Powerhouse Animation Studios [11]. Of the four Lyrical projects named in the coverage, three have a YouTuber producing [17].
Lyrical has made creator producers a repeat part of its business. "To be allowed to help bring that to life for its millions of fans alongside our dear friend Charlie again is a dream come true," said Daniel Dominguez, Lyrical's creative director [15]. On this project Jagex is working with a creator's company and an animation studio at once [2]. The reporting supports a pattern at one studio, Lyrical; it does not show game publishers in general choosing creators over animation houses.
The timing came from the calendar. The MMO turns 25 in 2026, and Gizmodo reported that the anniversary is why Jagex announced the series now [14]. The next promised details come in 2027, a year on [16].
For a game team weighing the same route, two axes are enough. One is whether the partner already has standing with your current players. The other is whether the deal names where the show will air. A partner with standing and a named outlet gives you a launch to plan marketing around. Standing without an outlet gives you a show for the existing fans, judged by them. An outlet without standing buys reach that your players may not trust. With neither, you have an announcement. On what Jagex has said so far, it sits in the second box, with a longtime player producing and the platform still unnamed [12][7].
What to watch
- Whether Jagex's 2027 update names a streaming platform or distributor, the piece the new-audience goal depends on.
- Whether the RuneScape series names its own animation house, as Godslap did with Powerhouse Animation Studios.
- Whether Godslap holds its 2028 target, the nearest signal of how fast these same partners deliver.