Old School RuneScape added sailing and hit 240,000 concurrent players

Polygon reports that Old School RuneScape, the 25-year-old branch of the RuneScape franchise run by Jagex, introduced its first new skill — sailing — last year and reached a peak of 240,000 concurrent players in 2025, design director Kieren Charles said at a recent press event.

Charles described sailing as a major technical challenge for a game built on 2007-era systems, explaining that "if the tech doesn't support it at a fundamental level, it probably doesn't fit the game that well anyway," but adding that "with enough work, we can make most things happen." The skill was community-approved after a vote in August 2023 and launched only after extensive player collaboration through alphas, betas and design back-and-forth.

Later this year sailing will expand with multiple quests, a Barracuda Trial and activities around the Red Reef, and the team plans to focus on raids, quests and other additions in 2026 rather than immediately pushing another new skill. Charles said he isn't ruling out another new skill someday but that any future addition will be driven by need and player demand, and he expects there probably won't be a new skill in 2027 or 2028.

Key Topics

Culture, Old School Runescape, Jagex, Kieren Charles, Sailing Skill, Barracuda Trial