At this point, it doesn’t come as a surprise anymore: Another monthly subscription becomes more expensive. This time, it’s our good old friend RuneScape. Jagex, the developer team, announced that from the 27th of September onward, the USD price for the Premier Membership will increase by 12% for the monthly subscription and by a staggering 24% for the annual one. In this article, we’ll tell you all about it, but more importantly: How you can get your RuneScape membership for a much lower price!
Why is Jagex increasing the RuneScape membership cost?
In July 2024, Jagex conducted a survey within the RuneScape community. The questions were mostly related to microtransactions (also known as MTX) and whether players would accept higher membership costs if the prevalence of MTX was reduced. This would be an acceptable option, especially for RuneScape 3 players, who generally express suffering from Jagex’s current microtransaction strategy.
So, the results of the survey were mostly in favor of this shift. However, the day the price changes were announced by Jagex, there was no mention of reducing their approach to microtransactions. Maybe it is coming later? While Old School RuneScape players are completely exempt from the MTX, they will now feel the hit as well. The reasoning behind this increase is that Jagex wants to offer their community the best game possible, while also arguing that it’s a necessity considering global inflation.
How the RuneScape Community reacted to the new prices
The community’s response was almost unanimously negative, stating that Jagex’s reasons come across as insincere. This frustration stems mostly from the sentiment that Jagex has not prioritized its players properly – cutting back on customer support resources and struggling to implement effective anti-cheat measures, causing many false bans and the lingering bot problem that plagues the RuneScape experience.
However, the biggest issue brought up by players is that Jagex is now effectively positioning RuneScape on a similar level as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV Online in terms of its subscription costs. While Jagex accounts let you have up to 20 characters, memberships are still handled on character level. This means, per RuneScape membership, you’re only allowed the Premier experience for one single character in RS3 and OSRS each. Meanwhile, WoW lets you have 65 (50 for WoW Classic) and FFXIV 8 characters per world – All on the same subscription. The proportions are vastly different, to say the least.
While Jagex is well aware of many of the problems listed above, the community feels like the developers are not doing enough to actually improve the game. With this context, the price increase is a tough pill to swallow for many players.
How much does a RuneScape Membership cost?
The price increase of the RuneScape Premier membership varies per currency as well as subscription duration. We’ve listed the changes in a handy overview below. You can see the old prices on the left versus the new prices on the right.
Changes in Terms & Conditions
With this announcement, Jagex also updated the RuneScape terms and conditions starting September 27th. Previously, you could find the following text on the T&Cs:
“From time to time our subscription prices might increase. If this happens and you already have a subscription, don't panic your membership price is locked in and won't increase. If your membership lapses and you decide to start a new subscription you'll be charged the new rate.”
Which has recently been replaced with a more formal and legal tone:
“We reserve the right to alter our Subscription fees at any time to reflect factors that influence the cost of the Subscription. [...] Price changes do not apply to existing Subscription periods, but take effect upon renewal (including automatic renewal).”
This means that if monthly costs rise again, you’ll get affected sooner or later. But to be fair, these recent changes are more in line with standard practices when it comes to subscriptions, rather than the previous ability to lock in membership prices.
How to get a RuneScape membership for a cheaper price
There are some good news in this whole story though. It’s the fact that RuneScape membership gift card prices are usually below the standard costs. So, now’s a good time to get one. Here at dundle, you can buy your RuneScape membership gift card for 30, 45 and 90 days as well as 12 months for Euro accounts.
They can reportedly stack up 35 months and the gift cards do not expire, which makes them great for long term use. However, these factors are prone to inevitable changes in the future, so you’re better off redeeming them as soon as possible. It’s a smart way to avoid automatic subscription renewals while keeping the same price.
RuneScape or RuneEscape?
Of course, you can always just buy bonds at the Grand Exchange to get a membership, so using real money isn’t a must. But either way, we hope we’ve been able to inform you about the current situation and potential alternatives for you to take advantage of. If you want to learn about a similar situation, make sure to read our article about the Xbox Game Pass price increase. Subscription prices are on the rise everywhere, so let us be smart about it where we can and where necessary, vote with our wallets.
