Old School Runescape had 157,445 concurrent players at the weekend, breaking its record

(Image credit: Jagex)

Is it even nostalgia when you’re more relevant than ever? Old School Runescape, the redux version of the browser MMO, has broken its own records for player numbers, hitting up 157,445 PCs at once.

Runescape developer Jagex has been running its latest league, which is a seasonal variant of the game where players start a new character on a time-limited server with specific rules and tasks. This time, they’re competing with Ironman accounts (no trading, no XP handouts) and locked to the region of Misthalin.

Well there it is, new record high for @OldSchoolRS, the response to Leagues II: TrailBlazer has been nothing short of incredible. pic.twitter.com/lzLU0Duo2MNovember 1, 2020

The new league started last Wednesday, October 28—and yesterday, lead content developer Kieren Charles reported Old School Runescape’s highest ever player numbers.

For context, 157,445 players would put Old School Runescape among Steam’s top ten most played games right now—just below Among Us, and just above GTA V. Not bad for a spin-off rooted in the 2007 build of a Java game.

The current Trailblazer league will run until January 6. Completing tasks will get you league points, which you can use to acquire powerful relics to enhance your playstyle. There’s also a rap to promote the league. 2007, remember?

Jeremy Peel is an award-nominated freelance journalist who has been writing and editing for PC Gamer over the past several years. His greatest success during that period was a pandemic article called "Every type of Fall Guy, classified", which kept the lights on at PCG for at least a week. He’s rested on his laurels ever since, indulging his love for ultra-deep, story-driven simulations by submitting monthly interviews with the designers behind Fallout, Dishonored and Deus Ex. He's also written columns on the likes of Jalopy, the ramshackle car game. You can find him on Patreon as The Peel Perspective.

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