RuneScape’s Treasure Hunter microtransactions will soon be no more, after the game’s community overwhelmingly voted to see it and other similar microtransactions removed. Developer Jagex is calling it a “new era” for the MMORPG.
In a video announcing the decision, Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy (known to the community as Mod North) said “the community has spoken,” and as such, Treasure Hunter will be removed on January 19, 2026.
The feature sees players granted keys each day that can be used to open what are effectively loot boxes containing XP, gold, and more. While players are granted a number of keys for free each day, keys can also be bought for real money. More than 120,000 players voted to see Treasure Hunter and other microtransactions removed.
That is, however, just the start of Jagex’s plans. Bellamy said on the same day Treasure Hunter is removed, Jagex will also significantly reduce the amount of “gameplay-impacting MTX across the board.” That includes the ability to purchase items that grant direct XP, as well as other items like Proteans, Dummies, and more, North said.
“January 19 is the start of a new era for RuneScape, powered by a shared desire to see this game grow for decades to come,” North said.
Next year, Jagex will release an “integrity roadmap” that will address core issues surrounding the game, including the user interface and user experience, the game’s visual identity, and more. Additional details will be shared on January 19.
Removing Treasure Hunter has been a long time coming. In June, Bellamy noted in a video that its approach to microtransactions was “harming RuneScape” and stated “it’s time that we took action. Jagex then experimented with a number of different changes to in-game purchases. In September, Bellamy said in an interview that Jagex “probably won’t maintain the revenue that we currently are” when making changes to microtransactions.
“That’s the truth,” Bellamy said. “But equally, if we’re taking a 10 or 15 or 25-year view, some short-term pain is probably worth the restoration of the game if we can get to that point.”
Jagex’s adherence to a community vote for the removal of Treasure Hunter is similar to how it handles the much less microtransaction-heavy Old School RuneScape. Released in 2013 and based on the 2007 version of RuneScape, Old School Runescape is now far more popular than the more modern RuneScape (aka RuneScape 3). New features are only added to Old School RuneScape if 70% of its community votes for them.
As a result, Old School RuneScape is more popular than ever before, and even broke player number records earlier this year with more than 241,000 concurrent players. The MMO’s first new skill as voted on by the community, Sailing, is set to release November 19.
