Recently, claims started surfacing suggesting that Jagex had undergone a wave of layoffs. These reports appeared on social media, with RuneScape fans claiming that ‘a fairly sizeable chunk’ of Jagex employees had parted ways with the company. Shortly after a major thread was started on Reddit, a Jagex mod stepped in to set the story straight.
It was confirmed that ‘job reductions’ have hit Jagex as part of a wider company restructuring. It was mentioned that hte roles stripped from the company were from ‘non-game dev’ and ‘non-player facing’ areas and that the redundancies shouldn’t impact the development direction for RuneScape.
At the same time, it was revealed that some priorities have shifted at Jagex, meaning that a key RuneScape project has been paused.
‘What Matters Most Are the People’
In the statement published on Reddit, JagexHooli wrote:
Yes, there have unfortunately been job reductions at Jagex. These have been made as part of changes in a company restructure as Jagex puts more emphasis on RuneScape games and community growth.
The majority of roles are from non-game dev and non-player facing areas. There are some exceptions within the RS team as part the company’s focus on a streamlined development approach.
I’m sure many of you are concerned about what this means for RuneScape 3. This is not a change in direction from what Mod North has said before – we are still committed to growing this game and investing in it. Our Roadmap won’t change because of these job reductions, and we’ll continue the great path we’ve been on with our content. We will talk to you about this when the time is right.
What matters most right now are the people affected by this change. The studio’s focus is to support those affected, as is mine. Now is the time we put them first and do everything we can to help them out.
Fans were quick to point out the awkward chain of events that led to these layoffs, including an increase in membership costs for RuneScape, the cancellation of community-requested updates, and now the cutting of (claimed) senior team members who helped shape the game for the better.
In a blog post on the RuneScape site, Jagex revealed that Project Zanaris has been placed on an indefinite pause. This was the project to enable private server hosting, but thanks to shifting priorities, it’s no longer happening.
The team wrote:
After careful consideration, we’ve decided to pause work on Zanaris indefinitely. We’re committed to delivering the best possible Old School RuneScape experience. With a renewed focus and continued support from our incredible team, we’re excited to keep making OSRS even better for everyone.
We understand that feelings around the project were mixed, and many of the concerns raised were fair. The truth is, there are other areas of the core Old School experience that deserve more attention right now. While Zanaris was ambitious and innovative, it wouldn’t have met expectations until much later in development. Rather than stretch our focus, we want to prioritise the things that matter most to you today.
Are you disappointed by all this negative news out of Jagex today? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the truth about The Witcher 4’s gameplay reveal
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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