A co-operative survival action RPG set in RuneScape's world of Gielinor on the forgotten continent of Ashenfall. After launching in Early Access in 2025, the full 1.0 release arrives September 15, 2026 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a co-operative survival action RPG developed by Jagex, set on Ashenfall, a forgotten continent within the RuneScape world of Gielinor. After launching in Steam Early Access in 2025 and surpassing one million sales, the game leaves Early Access and releases its full 1.0 version on September 15, 2026 across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The game is playable solo or with up to three friends. It blends survival mechanics like building, crafting, and resource gathering with RuneScape's skill progression system and a magic system that goes far beyond typical survival game combat tools.
Ashenfall is Gielinor's forgotten continent, cut off from the rest of the world and now ruled by awakened dragons. The setting gives Dragonwilds a distinct identity from the main RuneScape game while drawing on its lore, creatures, and visual style.
The continent is structured with escalating threat levels across its regions. Safer starting areas give way to increasingly hostile dragon territories as players build their skills and gear. Exploration is rewarded with rare resources and hidden locations, and the open-ended nature of the map means routes through the world vary significantly between players and groups.
The magic system is the most distinctive element of RuneScape: Dragonwilds compared to other survival games. Spells do not just deal damage in combat. They interact directly with gathering, building, and traversal in ways that change how every activity in the game works.
Players can summon a spectral axe to fell multiple trees instantly, blink away from danger using a movement spell, turn bones collected from defeated enemies into peaches for immediate healing, conjure a fish tornado from a nearby lake for rapid food collection, and explode ore veins to harvest large amounts of material in a single cast. These abilities reward players who invest in magic skills early and make the survival loop feel genuinely different from genre standards.
Dragonwilds inherits RuneScape's skill-based progression philosophy. Skills level independently as you use them: gathering resources levels the relevant gathering skill, crafting levels your crafting proficiency, and combat raises your combat stats. Higher skill levels unlock better actions, faster gathering rates, and access to more powerful recipes.
This system gives the game a satisfying sense of measurable progression on every task you complete, even when you are not actively fighting. A session spent building your base or harvesting materials raises skills that directly improve your effectiveness the next time you head into contested dragon territory.
Groups of one to four players share a persistent world in Dragonwilds. Resources, building, and dragon encounters are all collaborative, with each player contributing their own skill progression to the group's overall capability.
Different players can specialise in different skills within a group. One player focusing on magic and combat while another invests in building and crafting creates a complementary dynamic that makes group sessions feel strategically distinct from solo play rather than simply faster versions of the same activities.
The full 1.0 release on September 15, 2026 includes the Scorned Wilderness update, which adds new content built on top of the Early Access foundation. Jagex has also confirmed the Umbral Sands expansion arriving later in the summer of 2026, extending the content available beyond the base game launch.
The simultaneous launch across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 represents a major expansion from the PC-only Early Access period. Console players receive the complete 1.0 build at launch, not a partial port.
Most survival games use combat as a functional system for clearing threats. Dragonwilds integrates magic into every aspect of the loop, making spellcasting useful for gathering, movement, and food in ways that change the rhythm of play significantly compared to titles like Palworld or Valheim.
Its connection to the RuneScape universe gives longtime fans of the franchise a way to engage with familiar lore and visual design in a format that suits cooperative play. For players new to RuneScape entirely, Dragonwilds functions as a self-contained game that requires no prior knowledge of Gielinor's history.
Players interested in other co-op survival titles on this list should also check the new MMOs of 2026 for similar releases this year.
No. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is set in the RuneScape world but tells a self-contained story on the continent of Ashenfall. Familiarity with the main RuneScape game adds context but is not required to understand or enjoy the game.
No. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is a separate co-operative survival game developed by Jagex, the same studio behind the main RuneScape MMO. The two games share a universe and visual style but are different products with different gameplay formats. Dragonwilds is a survival crafting game for one to four players, not a traditional MMORPG.
Jagex confirmed that players who participated in Early Access will have their save data carry over into the 1.0 launch. Progress made during the Early Access period is not wiped at the full release on September 15, 2026.
Yes. The full 1.0 launch on September 15, 2026 releases simultaneously on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The console release is the complete version of the game, not a limited port of the PC build.