MTX Experiments: What We've Learned
Firstly, we wanted to say thank you again for the extensive feedback we received in the Experiments. We now have the most comprehensive understanding we’ve ever had about MTX - where it’s valued, where it’s not, and the ramifications of significant change.
Through your feedback and the data we’ve gathered, we’re ready to propose significant changes for the game. Before we do, we wanted to share some of the key learnings from these Experiments and how we’ve interpreted them. Let’s get into it.
Experiment One: Treasure Hunter Removal
Experiment One tested the removal of Treasure Hunter for one week, with purchasable Bonus XP bundles (capped to one purchase, per bundle, per day).
Feelings Towards Treasure Hunter Removal
- 65% of players felt positive or neutral about TH removal, with 35% feeling negative.
- 54% of players expressed a desire to retain some form of progression-supporting MTX options
- If Treasure Hunter was removed, 54% of players were more likely to recommend RuneScape, 20% had no change in likelihood to recommend it, and 25% were less likely to recommend
At first glance, the removal of Treasure Hunter is mostly positive but with a notable contingent of players expressing concern. However, when diving into the written responses, a much clearer picture starts to build.
Key Positive Themes Expressed By Players
- Reducing progression-based MTX & removing Treasure Hunter brings a feeling of integrity back to the game
- Removing Treasure Hunter would significantly improve the reputation of the game
- The experience felt better without Treasure Hunter promotions popping up every day
- Removing Treasure Hunter reduces disruption to gameplay and the in-game economy
Key Negative Themes Expressed By Players
- For more casual or time-poor players, Treasure Hunter rewards are crucial to helping them hit goals and keep the game accessible in their life
- Players missed free items that help skilling, gained by logging in each day for Daily Keys
- Players felt a reduced value of Daily Challenges without Key Rewards
- Frustration at not being able to access extra Daily Keys (which were held till post Experiment)
There is clear evidence that most players support the removal of Treasure Hunter, even among those who still wanted some progression-supporting MTX options.
At the same time, a significant portion of players felt negatively towards the removal – more than we expected to see. However, the devil is in the details.
The first and slightly larger group of negative responders mostly focused on the free value of Treasure Hunter, especially in relation to Daily Challenges & Daily Keys.
While this is somewhat expected when players are used to factoring it into play, it’s a valid piece of feedback. How we would address it needs to be carefully considered, as we can’t disregard other historic player concerns around Dailyscape pressure and our goal to be more integrity-led in our design.
If our upcoming proposal is validated, this is likely an area we’ll need to explore further post-change with community involvement to strike the right balance.
The second group of negative responders were those who self-identified as being low on free time or a more casual player.
These players stated they rely on an ability to purchase or acquire MTX items to help them meet their goals over time, offsetting their inability to play extensively by keeping their next goal in reach over a reasonable time frame.
We know many of our players have been with us (maybe with some breaks!) for well over a decade, and with that comes the unique challenge of personal change in peoples’ lives and responsibilities.
If you are one of these players, know we care about you, and this feedback has been taken seriously. We won’t be able to please everyone with any future changes, but wherever we go, we will consider the impact of MTX changes to your experience and how we can consider new healthier ways to address any impact of change through our core game design.
Combined with the written responses, we felt the questions asking players to agree or disagree with a series of statements really reinforced that – although there is some impact to players – reducing MTX is the right direction to be considering:
- 76% felt the changes show RuneScape is headed in a positive direction
- 79% did not feel that the MTX Experiment changes made the game more of a grind
- Only 26% of players felt the game was less fair without access to Treasure Hunter
Experiment Two: Cosmetic-Free Worlds
Cosmetic-Free Worlds focused on gathering initial insights on the visual identity of RuneScape based on historical feedback. In these worlds, most Cosmetics were disabled.
Participation across the community represented a small subset of the audience, with many choosing to stick to Cosmetics-enabled Worlds. This also resulted in our lowest participation of all the Experiment surveys (though still in the many thousands!).
However, from those survey answers, there were a couple of important insights for us to consider:
- 63% of players who answered the survey feel current cosmetics break their immersion
- 59% of players wanted to see less flashy visuals
- 84% of players who answered the survey wanted some form of cosmetic toggle
Despite this lower participation and engagement, it does show us some players are seeking a particular visual experience – and that the visual integrity of some legacy cosmetics can have an impact on the game experience.
Our takeaway from this is simple. Cosmetics are valued by those who want self-expression, but our historical design approach has been to the detriment of some players. If we address the approach to Cosmetic visual design and offer greater visual customisation for those who want it, Cosmetics can have a positive place within the game.
Experiment Three: Double XP with Limited MTX Items
Experiment Three was a modification to our Summer Double XP event, where we restricted the use of almost all MTX-relative items during the event.
As expected, this was our most contentious test! Double XP habits and play cycles have been engrained for quite some time, and by design, this was always going to be a stark difference for players to experience.
With this test, we most wanted to understand how it would impact player behaviour, alongside what was missed or valued about the experience MTX items bring to the game. Here’s some of our key findings:
- Over 80% changed skills, methods or playtime in Double XP due to the Experiment
- The top reason players liked the event was reconnecting them to core gameplay
- The most missed blocked items were Portables (65%) and Silverhawks (57%)
- 54% of players said enjoyment of Double XP decreased due to the Experiment
- 65% of players who take regular breaks said Double XP is an important moment to make gains when they can’t often make time to play
With our changes targeting restoring the integrity and focus of playing RuneScape’s core gameplay, there’s some real positives in the survey responses and gameplay data. We did see players branching out and reconnecting with the game's skilling loops, which we believe is crucial for the future health of the game.
What is also apparent is the value of shared AFK skilling experiences in social hubs. While some of this feedback will be influenced by diminished returns compared to a usual Double XP, we will be considering how we retain some of the positives of that experience in healthier ways.
Similar to our first Experiment, it’s also clear Double XP – and the use of AFKable Skilling Items – serve a gameplay loop for players with less time. Players stockpile resources through Daily Keys or purchases, followed by maximising Double XP to make gains with their limited time to play.
When we dived into the stated motivations for this behaviour beyond time, it’s also apparent some Skills fuel this behaviour. When looking at the 57% of players who missed Silverhawks, or the 49% who missed Proteans, the motivation for using them is to help minimise time spent on repetitive or boring skilling methods – allowing them to reduce time on Skills they don’t like or to provide a way to train them passively.
As Mod North mentioned at the start of this process, change will only be successful through a strong focus on integrity. Maintaining these loops outside the core gameplay and economy would conflict with that direction, so any proposal will likely impact players with this playstyle in the short term.
However, this feedback is still important. While we may consider those loops inherently against the direction we’re headed, it represents valid player feedback we care about. Over time, we will be working on ways to keep the game accessible for players with less time through healthier, gameplay centric solutions – and solving some design problems that MTX items currently paper over.
Experiment Four: Cosmetic Mega Drop
Experiment Four tested the release of the entire range of Ability Overrides and some Cosmetic Outfits into the Marketplace – directly purchasable with RuneCoins.
The Cosmetic Drop was more popular than we expected! A higher share of the active playerbase decided to purchase a Cosmetic than we anticipated, and of those, 75% purchased multiple items.
The survey highlighted the driving forces of that popularity. Removing the chance to get mechanics (RNG) and adding more options to choose from makes purchasing cosmetics better.
- 76% prefer the Marketplace over Treasure Hunter
- 68% said the larger selection to choose from increased interest in cosmetics
We also saw some of the same themes from Cosmetic-Free Worlds, where players want us to lean even more into a visual style that feels part of the world and avoids disrupting immersion.
- Fantasy/Medieval, Dark/Gothic and Lore cosmetics are the most favoured visual styles
- 48% want us to focus more on immersive, lore or retro-themed cosmetics
- 44% of players avoid buying Cosmetics perceived as low effort or unoriginal, with 36% avoiding purchases that feel out of place in RuneScape
This further reinforces how Cosmetics fit within the vision for RuneScape if we focus more on immersive visual designs. We also gained valuable insights into various legacy cosmetics and styles you would like to see offered in future, as well as UX improvements to make the experience of purchasing better too.
This gives us real confidence that, when offering the right value in the right way, Cosmetics are a positive part of the game that also support long-term sustainability.
Where This All Leads
The Experiments have shown us that significant changes to MTX have real promise and support. Importantly, it has also taught us the new problems it can create too.
Thanks to your incredible participation and detailed survey responses, we have enough information to act. We now know the bold changes to propose and the player challenges we’ll need to solve – in healthier ways – over the long term.
So where does this lead? On October 29th 2025 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 5pm GMT / 6pm CET, we will unveil our final proposal for the future of RuneScape.
Join us on YouTube for the reveal as we lift the curtain on our proposal for revolutionary change – and a final decision that will be entirely in your hands.
Thank you to everyone who joined us on this journey. See you soon.