RuneScape fans have spoken: 'Treasure Hunter' microtransactions will be scrapped in January as 'part of a wider transformation across Jagex'
It's not exactly a surprising outcome, but it is now official: RuneScape players have voted overwhelmingly to remove the game's 'Treasure Hunter' microtransaction system, and so it'll be cut out completely on January 19, 2026.
"January 19th is the start of a new era for RuneScape, powered by a shared desire to see this game grow for decades to come," Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy said, announcing the upcoming change. "The removal of Treasure Hunter is just one part of a wider transformation across Jagex, which is seeing a renewed commitment to delivering deeper value, greater fairness and long-term improvements for players across all our games."
Treasure Hunter is a daily activity in RuneScape, launched in 2014, that enables players to earn "XP boosts, gameplay-skipping items and in-game gold." Players are given a free Treasure Hunter key each day, and can earn more by completing activities or—you guessed it—buying them. It's essentially a loot box system, and it's deeply unpopular with players.
Once the decision was put to a public vote, there was never any real doubt that the microtransaction layer would be ditched. Jagex gave players two weeks to rack up 100,000 votes in support of the proposed change in a poll that opened on October 29, but it took just a few hours to accumulate more than half that amount; the goal was achieved the next day, and the final total came in at 124,985.
Fair to say that Jagex expected that outcome, because it's been talking about the need to overhaul RuneScape's microtransaction situation for a while now. Back in June, for instance, Bellamy said its approach to microtransactions "is harming RuneScape, and it's time we took action."
"Despite the continual community feedback out there in the world—whether on Reddit, on a survey, or at RuneFest—we've been tentative to take action because of that reality," Bellamy said at the time. "And that change now comes with real risk … But it's time to be brave, because frankly sticking to the path we're on also represents real risk to the game."
It would've been nice to see Bellamy apply some of that bravery when it came to RuneScape's Pride events, which he dramatically curtailed earlier this year. It was a bad call that, to their credit, sparked outrage among Jagex employees and the RuneScape community alike, and in that light one might be tempted to see this vote and MTX walkback—a highly-publicized foregone conclusion, really—as an effort to win back at least some of the goodwill it torched.
And maybe it is, but even if that's the case there's no denying it's a positive change, and Bellamy said there's more to come, including "an Integrity Roadmap that tackles some of the game’s biggest friction points head-on, alongside one of our best content roadmaps in RuneScape history."
More details on what's coming in RuneScape for 2026 will be revealed in a "RuneScape Ahead" showcase set for January 19, 2026, the same day the Treasure Hunter layer is removed.
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