Jagex forces viral AI-made RuneScape clone Elderwood Realms offline after copyright notice. Read the full takedown details and community reaction!
Viral AI-generated MMORPG project Elderwood Realms has officially ceased operations after legendary British video game developer Jagex issued a formal takedown request. Created by OpenAI developer Rohan Varma using the GPT-6 Astra engine inside OpenAI's Codex environment, the browser-based multiplayer title was designed to directly replicate the core gameplay loop, skills, and iconic locations of Old School RuneScape (OSRS). Despite racking up thousands of player accounts within days of its viral debut, the project has been completely pulled offline, ending one of the gaming industry's most contentious experiments with generative AI software.
What Was Elderwood Realms and How Was It Built?
Developed as a demonstration of real-time AI code generation, Elderwood Realms quickly grew from a simple prompt into an active, multiplayer browser game.
- Prompted into Existence: Varma instructed the GPT-6 Astra model in OpenAI's Codex to "build RuneScape" and deploy it directly onto a browser interface.
- Direct IP Copying: The game featured visual assets, user interface layouts, skilling systems like Woodcutting, and recognizable in-game locations such as Varrock, Falador, and Lumbridge.
- Rapid Player Adoption: Shortly after going live, over 3,000 player accounts were created, logging more than 1,000 total gameplay hours as curious MMO fans jumped into the world.
Why Did Jagex Take Down the AI RuneScape Clone?
The rapid growth of Elderwood Realms immediately drew widespread scrutiny from both Jagex's legal team and the broader MMORPG community.
- Blatant Copyright Infringement: The project openly lifted core mechanics, items like gold pieces (GP) and Partyhats, and trademarked lore locations directly from Jagex's flagship IP.
- Outrage from the OSRS Community: Players on the Old School RuneScape subreddit voiced heavy criticism, labeling the project an unauthorized ripoff and calling on Jagex to take swift legal action to protect the franchise.
- Compliance and High Score Archive: Following Jagex's formal notice, Varma pulled the playable game offline immediately. The domain remains active solely to preserve player high scores as an archive of the short-lived project.
Experience official, secure adventures across Gielinor by playing directly on the Old School RuneScape Official Portal.
In asked GPT-6 Astra in Codex to build RuneScape and deploy it to a ChatGPT Site. You can check out the game here (it is multiplayer, so I'll see you in there!): https://t.co/QTj4zSda7X The most impressive part may be that the demo video below is an Astra one-shot. My prompt: "I want to make a nice 30 second video that will perform well on twitter, show casing the game that we created here - could you make that video?"
— Rohan Varma (@TheRohanVarma) September 6, 2026