A developer asked GPT-6 to build RuneScape and ended up with a playable multiplayer game that runs directly in a web browser.
Rohan Varma created Elderwood Realms using GPT-6 Astra in Codex, drawing heavily on Old School RuneScape and recreating familiar locations and skills from Jagex’s long-running MMO.
It even brings RuneScape back to its browser-based roots. The original game began life as a Java-based browser game more than 25 years ago, although Jagex eventually moved away from browser support with its own client and Steam integration.
AI-built RuneScape clone goes viral with players #
Explaining how the project came together, Varma said he asked GPT-6 Astra in Codex to “build RuneScape” and deploy it to a ChatGPT Site.
The result is Elderwood Realms, a “fan prototype” that currently drops players into its recreation of Lumbridge, complete with multiplayer.
Having briefly dipped my toes in faux-RuneScape, it’s playable in the loosest sense, though prone to frequent connection errors. Likewise, various iconic landmarks, including Varrock and Falador, appear in wildly different places from the actual game, and textures are near non-existant.
Varma said 3,000 accounts were created within the first 24 hours, with players collectively spending more than 1,000 hours in the game.
However, its similarities to Old School RuneScape haven’t gone unnoticed by its community.
A post on the dedicated OSRS subreddit has called for Jagex to send “cease and desist” letters over the project, with players taking issue with recognizable elements from the game appearing in the AI-made recreation.
Varma later acknowledged the backlash himself, revealing that Elderwood Realms received another spike in players after it “accidentally went viral on the OSRS subreddit.”
That hasn’t stopped development. Varma said Codex subsequently added Varrock and Falador, a task system for skilling and a duelling system.
Jagex’s terms state that RuneScape, Old School RuneScape and their associated materials are protected by intellectual property rights. They also prohibit creating other means through which Jagex products can be played, including replacement clients, modified clients and server emulators.
However, Elderwood Realms describes itself as a fan prototype rather than a client for accessing RuneScape itself, and Jagex has not publicly indicated that it has taken action against the project at the time of writing.
The game currently remains publicly playable in a browser, with Varma saying Astra is continuing to work on performance improvements and expanding its gameplay.
In other RuneScape news, UK police confirmed earlier in September that an ex-OSRS developer had been sentenced for stealing over $400k in virtual gold from other players.