Summary
- RuneScape and Warcraft are branching out into new genres to attract new audiences.
- Expanding into new genres is a financial decision but one that comes with new creative opportunities to capitalize on established brand names.
- Franchises like Mario and League of Legends have a long history of successfully venturing into new genres and forms of media.
RuneScape and Warcraft are two of the most recognizable names in gaming. But if you’re not into massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), they haven’t given you much to latch onto in recent years—even if you’re a fan of the worlds they’re built around.
That’s beginning to change, though. Lately, the developers and publishers behind both franchises seem more determined than ever to reinvent themselves in new genres.
When MMOs Outgrow Their Genre
RuneScape and World of Warcraft (WoW)—two of the most iconic MMORPGs in history—are household names. Even people who’ve never played them (or paid any attention to video games, for that matter) have likely heard of them. Both launched in 2004 and have remained pillars of the genre ever since.
Though neither was technically the first entry in its respective franchise (RuneScape was preceded by a 2D browser version, and WoW evolved from the real-time strategy series Warcraft), these two titles are what catapulted Jagex and Blizzard to new heights. But even juggernauts have to evolve.
After nearly a decade focused almost exclusively on their flagship MMOs, both developers began exploring new ways to expand their universes.
Blizzard was the first to strike gold. In 2014, it released Hearthstone, a digital collectible card game set in the Warcraft universe and heavily inspired by the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. Today, Hearthstone remains one of the most popular titles in its genre. Blizzard has since continued to experiment with Warcraft spin-offs, including the mobile tower defense game Warcraft Rumble and in-game modes like Pet Battles, a Pokemon-style mini-game, and Plunderstorm, a limited-time battle royale event inside the WoW client.
Jagex has taken its own swings, though with more mixed results. Chronicle: RuneScape Legends, a strategy card game, launched in 2016 but was pulled from Steam less than two years later due to low engagement. RuneScape: Idle Adventures, an idle-clicker spin-off, met a similar fate. Still, Jagex hasn’t stopped trying to grow the RuneScape franchise beyond its MMO roots.
Its latest—and most promising—venture is RuneScape: Dragonwilds, a co-op survival-crafting game that reimagines RuneScape’s lore, characters, and items in a completely different genre and setting. So far, Dragonwilds has been much better received than previous efforts, climbing to the #1 spot on Steam’s Global Top Sellers list and moving over 600,000 units during its first week in Early Access.
These developments illustrate a broader shift as even entrenched, genre-defining franchises like RuneScape and Warcraft branch out into new territory. They’re hardly alone in doing so.
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The Business (And Creative) Case for Going Cross-Genre
At its core, the decision to explore new genres is driven by profit. If developers and publishers didn’t believe there was money to be made in expanding their franchises, they simply wouldn’t do it. But the motivations aren’t purely financial; there’s a strategic and creative logic to it, too.
For one, RuneScape and WoW are well past their peak growth stages. While still beloved and supported by dedicated fanbases, they aren’t as accessible to newcomers as they once were. These games are dense, time-consuming, and demand a level of commitment that doesn’t suit everyone. RuneScape is still point-and-click, for crying out loud, which might as well be prehistoric to today’s gamers. Yet the franchises are teeming with lore and legacy—perfect foundations for spin-offs. As Hearthstone’s former production director Jason Chayes once put it, referencing Warcraft: “It’s a very rich and broad world to draw on that has tons of people already excited about it.”
By tapping into genres that are trendier and more approachable, like survival crafting or battle royale, developers can introduce their universes to new audiences. These spin-offs act as gateways. A player who picks up Dragonwilds or Plunderstorm might get so invested that they eventually check out the mainline games. Sometimes the spin-off ends up more successful than what came before it—as was the case with World of Warcraft and the Warcraft series.
There’s also a practical marketing benefit. It’s significantly easier (and less risky) to sell a new game when it carries the name of an established franchise. Take RuneScape: Dragonwilds, for instance. The survival-crafting genre is already crowded, and Dragonwilds entered the scene late, long after titles like Valheim had dominated the space. It’s received favorable reviews, but it doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Without the RuneScape branding and familiar lore, it’s hard to imagine the game performing as well as it has.
Finally, there’s a creative incentive. Spin-offs allow studios to trial new mechanics and ideas in a lower-stakes environment. Both Jagex and Blizzard have embraced seasonal content, like RuneScape’s Leagues or WoW’s Season of Mastery and Season of Discovery, not just as limited-time diversions, but as testbeds. The developers have stated that what they learn from these experiments could influence future development, or even long-requested ideas like Classic+ for World of Warcraft.
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A Tradition as Old as the Industry
While RuneScape and Warcraft’s recent moves into new genres are noteworthy, this kind of expansion is nothing new. Game developers have been blending genres and building out their franchises in new directions for decades.
Perhaps the most obvious example is Mario. What began as a side-scrolling platformer has since grown into a sprawling franchise spanning sports titles, party games, kart racers, RPGs, and more. Mario has touched nearly every genre imaginable, and the success of these spin-offs helped cement the brand as a cultural icon.
Still, the pace and scope of these cross-genre projects has only accelerated in recent years. One of the best modern examples is Riot Games’ League of Legends. Riot has constructed an entire extended universe of games across widely different genres, including an auto battler, a digital card game, a turn-based RPG, a rhythm runner, a metroidvania, and a fighting game currently in development. A League-themed MMORPG is also on the way, set to compete with genre giants RuneScape and WoW. And that’s without even mentioning Arcane, the Emmy-winning animated series that brought the world of League to television and introduced its characters to millions of new fans.
Increasingly, that expansion extends beyond games themselves. More than ever, game studios are adapting their franchises into other media. Browse any major streaming platform or check the box office, and it’s clear that game adaptations are booming. A Minecraft Movie is far and away the highest-grossing film of 2025 so far, and new announcements seem to surface every week. Just look at Split Fiction: within two weeks of its March 6, 2025 release, a film adaptation was already in the works.
Publishers and producers alike are recognizing the incredible potential of popular video game properties. When a game takes off, it’s no longer expected to stay in its original lane. Audiences crave more—whether that means new entries, new genres, or entirely new mediums—and studios are eager to deliver.
