Jagex partners with Games by Malcs on Melvor Idle 2 RuneScape spinoff

Jagex: The RuneScape Company revealed a publishing partnership with Games by Malcs for Melvor Idle 2: A RuneScape Adventure, an official RuneScape spinoff, on Oct. 29, 2026 in Cambridge, UK.

Jagex’s deal gives Melvor Idle 2 the official RuneScape Adventure subtitle, a first for the franchise in this format. The sequel arrives in Early Access on PC through Steam on Nov. 17, 2026. The game does not take place in Gielinor despite carrying the RuneScape Adventure subtitle.

Jagex takes on publishing duties for Melvor Idle 2, covering localisation, translation support, marketing, and platform work. A licensing deal lets Games by Malcs use RuneScape branding to amplify the game and reach more players.

Brendan Malcom, Founder of Games By Malcs and Creative Director of Melvor Idle, said teaming up with Jagex is a dream come true. Jagex played a key role in Melvor Idle’s success by helping the developer reach global audiences and build a community that made the sequel possible.

Anna Mostyn-Williams, Senior Director of Business Development & Partnerships at Jagex, said Games By Malcs captured the satisfying side of RuneScape skilling and that fans of both games will enjoy the sequel. She said, “Games By Malcs has built a passionate community by capturing what makes RuneScape’s skilling so satisfying, and Brendan has done that brilliantly.”

The sequel adds five new skills, including combat, magic, smithing, farming, and cooking. A maximum skill level of 120 pushes skills beyond the original game’s cap.

Offline progression keeps the adventure moving at the same speed as active play, so time away does not cost growth. The new Quest system sends players through story-driven quests and Quest Bosses to test updated combat skills and explore Melvor’s history. Game modes appear in the franchise for the first time, designed to challenge players of every skill level.

The sequel will have no microtransactions. Progress and success will come only through player effort. Early Access launches with three new skills—Astrology, Herblore and Agility—a level cap of 99, and four new Mastery Guild Ranks.

Early Access contains over 1,800 items. It also includes over 150 monsters and 25 pets. The Act 2 main storyline is roughly three times the size of Act 1. Players can carry demo saves into Early Access, back them up locally, or rely on Melvor Cloud for automatic saving.

Cross-platform cloud saving will let players pick up on PC and mobile after a mobile version launches. Players get a Friends List, optional Cloud Profiles, and a Presence feature showing how many are training the same activity, plus privacy options. The game is fully moddable through an in-game mod manager that lets players download user-created mods. Early Access adds a Legacy Sidebar, improved stat UI, contrast and readability tweaks, early-game balance adjustments, and engine improvements for performance and stability.

More than 50 thousand players downloaded the Melvor Idle 2 demo during Next Fest, peaking at over 7,200 simultaneous players. During Next Fest, players sent over 1,000 feedback forms, more than 1,200 ratings, and over 500 bug reports.

On Steam, the original Melvor Idle has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews and found a real audience among RuneScape players. Five years ago, Jagex became the first publisher of the original Melvor Idle, without a branding tweak.

RuneScape has drawn over 300 million player accounts worldwide. With RuneScape entering its 25th year in 2026, Jagex is speeding up plans to broaden RuneScape into a wider network of forever games and connected experiences. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is set to launch in 2026 as part of that multi-genre future for the RuneScape universe. RuneScape has faced monetization controversies, and some Reddit users were skeptical when Jagex first published Melvor Idle, though the sequel announcement stresses that there are no microtransactions.