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Runescape Developer Shuts Down HD Fan Mod Just before Release and a Rumbling In-game Protest

Jagex was contacted by the mod's creator who claims they've spent 2,000 hours in the last two years developing Runelite HD. Calisto mebel

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Runescape developer Jagex has put a stop to Runelite HD, a fan-made HD mod for the popular open-source client for Old School Runescape, just when the project was set to go live on Monday. The decision was made at the eleventh hour, and has led to some Runescape fans decrying Jagex's decision and saying they'll move to other MMOs.

Reddit user "117", Runelite HD developer shared the message that he received from Jagex on Tuesday. Jagex later confirmed the message via an article on its blog. Runelite HD operates as a plugin that will provide an extensive visual overhaul to the basic Runescape, as can be seen on 117's Twitter. The modder said that Runelite HD has been in development for around 2,000 hours in the past two years.

"Yesterday we contacted the developers of known HD projects and asked them to stop development of their projects, since this is a matter that we are investigating directly," Jagex stated.

Runelite HD Screenshots

Jagex told 117 that the company's work on the development of an HD version of Old School Runescape was "still relatively early in the exploration stage" however, it was "very much progress."

"Naturally, this means that any fan-led project that aims to alter the way Old School RuneScape appears is in opposition to our own plans," Jagex wrote to 117. "We believe it's vital that Old School appears consistent, so we want to ensure that our official changes are the only ones. Jagex and the Old School team are excited to announce that they will be working seriously this project. However, we will politely ask that you close your personal project.

117 stated that they had offered Jagex an option in the form of dropping their project after Jagex had released their own, and giving Jagex "collaborative control" over Runelite HD's visual style.

"They declined outright," 117 stated. "I am beyond sad with Jagex and am sorry that, after this long journey this project isn't feasible for me to share with you.

The mod 117 isn't able to go against Jagex's guidelines on third-party clients, but the Runescape developer says it will be making changes to the guidelines in the coming week to include references to projects that affect the appearance of the game.

Original Runelite developer Adam1210 shared his thoughts on Reddit, saying that the ability to allow Runelite HD to continue would provide a net benefit for future updates developed by Jagex.

"I also strongly oppose adding it to the "third party guidelines," Adam1210 said. "Most of those guidelines attempt to define what the line between quality of lifecheating] and cheating is - and I think majority of people believe that the current guidelines are a great illustration of that, and it is a good way to keep the integrity of the game. There isn't an unfair advantage for better graphics and it will only affect players when they enable it. Therefore, this is an infringement of guidelines. Overall, this is an inconvenience for everyone involved and I'd like to see Jagex would reconsider."

Some fans of the Runelite HD project have taken to a town square in Falador, a capital city of one of Runescape's main kingdoms, to hold a sit-in protest similar to the protest that World of Warcraft players held in July. The video shows players posting text messages that criticize Jagex and using hashtags like #Free117. Another video shows players "marchingaround" outside Falador Square.

It is not known how long Jagex was aware of 117's Runelite HD Project.

PC Gamer has reached out to Jagex PR for comment regarding the matter however, we haven't received a response as of publishing time.

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Joseph Knoop, a freelance writer who specializes in Fortnite at PC Gamer. Master of Creative Codes and Fortnite's weekly missions, Joe is always ready to give you the report on Boba Fett, John Wick or whoever the hell is coming to Fortnite this week. It's a mix of relief and disappointment that he's not yet a Fortnite skin for himself. There's always the next season...