Why are more gamers than ever playing the 2000s classic RuneScape?

Imagine calling your friends, ordering a pizza, and opening up RuneScape on your PC.

A lot of people around my age might read those words and be instantly thrown back to the days of dial-up internet, MSN Messenger and Napster.

But before you instinctively type the letters "a/s/l" on your keyboard, get this - for a lot of people, this is hardly the stuff of distant memories.

In 2025 RuneScape - the online game where players can go on quests with their friends which first launched way back in 2001 - saw an influx of players.

Its number of paid members grew to "well over a million" according to the company, an increase of 30% compared to the start of the year.