After 24 Years, RuneScape Finally Concludes One of the Longest Questlines in Video Game History
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Key points
- RuneScape’s 24-year-old Desert questline concludes with the Return to the Desert trilogy in 2025.
- Final quests release in April and July, bringing players back to Menaphos and resolving the Amascut storyline.
- Players will face Amascut in RuneScape’s first-ever world-first race, marking the end of one of gaming’s longest questlines.
After 24 years, one of the longest-running storylines in video game history is finally reaching its conclusion. RuneScape’s Desert questline, which began on February 28, 2001, with Prince Ali Rescue, will wrap up this year with the Return to the Desert trilogy, as announced at RuneFest 2025.
Originally introduced just two months after RuneScape launched, Prince Ali Rescue was one of the game’s first major quests, setting the foundation for a sprawling, multi-decade narrative. It introduced players to Al Kharid’s political conflicts, tasking them with rescuing Prince Ali from Lady Keli through disguises, deception, and item-fetching mechanics. Over the years, the Desert storyline expanded massively, taking players deep into Menaphos, the desert pantheon, and an ongoing struggle against Amascut, the Devourer—the goddess of destruction and a central figure in RuneScape’s mythology.
Jagex developers Mod Shrike and Mod Zura confirmed that the final chapters of the questline will unfold in two upcoming quests: Pharaoh’s Folly in April and Eclipse of the Heart in July, following Beneath Scabaras’ Sands, which launched in January. Players will return to Menaphos, now featuring enhanced gameplay mechanics, including improved Slayer soul drop rates and better journal log drops.
The culmination of the questline will see players confront Amascut in battle, marking the first-ever world-first race in RuneScape’s history, as players compete to be the first to complete the challenge. Several returning characters will receive updated designs, including Amascut herself, who will reclaim her divine feline form.
RuneScape is a fantasy MMORPG developed and published by Jagex. Launched on January 4, 2001, it has become one of the most enduring titles in the online gaming industry. Despite being over two decades old, RuneScape continues to thrive with a large and dedicated player base. The game consistently attracts hundreds of thousands of active players (on March 1, 2025, RuneScape’s official website reported over 150,000 players online), with a recent peak of 263,094 concurrent users. Over the years, it has amassed over 300 million registered accounts, earning recognition as one of the largest and most-updated MMORPGs in history.
