Hero image: The Fractured Archive cinematic trailer. Image: Jagex
Jagex put dates on Old School’s next two big updates at the RuneFest 2026 Summit. A raid and a one-life game mode are locked in, and a month of surprise quests is up for a vote.
The RuneFest 2026 Summit Overview is up, and two dates matter most: The Fractured Archive releases on 20 October and Hardcore Worlds arrives on 4 November.
Start with the raid, where you’ll head to the caverns below Lumbridge to defend Guthix’s most revered collection from thieves. Jagex’s cinematic trailer calls it Old School’s toughest raid yet and promises eight brand new bosses. An “Everything You Need To Know” blog is due later this week, so hold off on planning your team until then.
Can’t get a squad together for launch day? Jagex is running a watch party on its Twitch channel with Mod Ayiza and Mod Kieren, and says it is a place to hang out rather than a race-to-world-first broadcast.
Before any of that, the PvP Tutorial launches on 7 October, according to the roadmap teases at the end of the Summit post.
Hardcore Worlds is the bigger change, because you start a brand-new character on separate worlds with a separate economy. You keep everything a main account has, including trading and the Grand Exchange, but you get one life. There are no XP or drop rate boosts, so you level at the normal pace.
When you die, you choose whether to reset the character and start again or move it to the main game. A transferred character keeps its progress and gear, minus whatever you lost on death, and those items are gone for good.
Read the rules before you take risks, because Hardcore Worlds uses the Hardcore Group Ironman rule set. That means the Fight Caves, the Inferno and even the Nightmare Zone count as unsafe deaths. The Hardcore Worlds trailer is up now, and Jagex says a dedicated blog is coming.
November is also pitched as Quest Month. The Graveyard has already passed its poll and is planned for November. Jagex is proposing at least five more quests across the month, with at least one each week. None would be harder than Experienced, and all would be surprise quests, with details kept secret until release.
That one isn’t locked in yet. The Summit poll is open now, so log in and vote if you want a say in Quest Month and the rest of the Summit line-up.
Source: Jagex – RuneFest 2026 Summit Overview, Jagex – Quest Month – RuneFest 2026, Old School RuneScape (YouTube) – The Fractured Archive trailer, Old School RuneScape (YouTube) – Hardcore Worlds trailer