Jagex Announces New Browser-Based Sci-Fi MMO

RuneScape developer and publisher Jagex Games Studio announced Stellar Dawn, a new browser-based, science fiction-themed massively multiplayer online title releasing next year. Stellar Dawn will feature "a variety of gameplay styles" and will allow players to explore worlds of futuristic environments. A "sizeable proportion" of the MMO will be available to play free of charge, but the UK-based studio will offer extra areas and opportunities to subscribers. The title is designed to run on most Internet-connected PCs and Macs thanks to the developer's proprietary online-games platform. Jagex's RuneScape runs on the same platform and has picked up 10 million registered players since its 2001 launch, one million of which have paid subscriptions. Stellar Dawn rises from the ashes of MechScape, another sci-fi-themed MMO Jagex worked on and invested "tens of millions of pounds" in before cancelling last year. Stellar Dawn uses the engine and some art assets from MechScape, but the studio says "everything else was reinvented". "Stellar Dawn will be Jagex's biggest release to date and everyone at the studio is absolutely electric with excitement as we enter the final stages of development," says Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard. "We are really happy with how well Stellar Dawn has come together." He adds, "The team has deftly blended art, content and technology to provide the entertaining, long-term game appeal that we have become famous for. As we approach the public launch next year we will be revealing many more details about the game to the community on stellardawn.com."