The ruling Pharaoh isn’t eager to greet new interlopers

Runescape | Jagex

Developer Jagex stood out last April by continuing legacy server support of Old School Runescape while its competitor in World of Warcraft closed its largest private server, much to chagrin of players. But that eye for the past was complimented by updates to the current game, too. Now, in an attempt to please fans of the modern experience, Runescape will open gates that have long been closed to its players with a series of new expansions.

The first expansion, Menaphos: The Golden City, will launch on June 5. Inside the 16-year-old online RPG’s world, Menaphos is an ancient and wealthy city, referenced with Egyptian themes in the game’s lore as early as April 2005, but never accessible to Runescape’s paying subscribers beyond a glimpse at the settlement’s gates.

In Menaphos: The Golden City, set to start a three-month cadence between Runescape expansion releases, players will finally enter the city and embed themselves with its citizens to uncover some untold corruption.

In addition to city-wide mini games, new over-world exploration opportunities, and quests to complete for Menaphos’ NPCs, the expansion will also include new dungeons and a Slayer Skill cap increase from 99 to 120.

The shift to large-scale content updates every three months marks a departure from the weekly content updates Runescape subscribers have become accustomed to. Jagex says it made the change based on a 2016 player survey, and it won’t be increasing the price of subscriptions to support the addition of the new expansion schedule.

You can check out a teaser for Menaphos: The Golden City below, complete with a steely challenge from the voice of Menaphos’ ruling Pharaoh.