How Jagex spent $128k on influencers for RuneScape: Dragonwilds' surprise release
My name is Nick and I've spent the last 8 years building technology around influencer marketing, and running campaigns for game releases.
Along the way I realized that with Streamforge's discovery & reporting tools and my experience as a practitioner, I was uniquely positioned to reverse-engineer the campaigns being run in the gaming industry.
Every week I write this newsletter, and my goal remains consistent: help industry professionals benchmark their campaigns and uncover strategies that work.
I'm not affiliated with Jagex, and all budget figures are estimates based on publicly available data and Streamforge's creator market rate algorithm.
Quick Note
Last week I said I was going to cover Wild Assault by Combat Cat Studio, but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to cover the new RuneScape game as I think you all would find it more interesting.
Chronological Overview
RuneScape: Dragonwilds had an unusual marketing journey, with a remarkably short window between reveal and launch:
June 23, 2022 - Initial project announcement: Jagex reveals they're developing an "open-world survival game in the RuneScape universe" using Unreal Engine 5, but shares no title or footage.
October 15, 2024 - Closed Alpha sign-ups: After a long silence, Jagex resurfaces the project, inviting RuneScape players to sign up for a closed alpha test.
March 31, 2025 - Official reveal: The game is formally announced as "RuneScape: Dragonwilds" with teaser trailers and confirmation of a Spring 2025 Early Access launch.
April 15, 2025 - Surprise Early Access launch: Just two weeks after the first trailer, Jagex shadow-drops the game during a "Developer Deep-Dive" stream, announcing it's "available right now" on Steam.
April 17, 2025 - Post-launch visibility: The game is featured in the "Galaxies Digital Showcase," keeping it in the news cycle days after launch.
What stands out immediately is the compressed timeline between reveal and release – just 15 days – a stark contrast to the years-long marketing campaigns we analyzed for games like Assassin's Creed Shadows (2.5 years) or even inZOI (16 months).
RuneFest 2025 Preview (March 1-2)
Jagex opted for a subtle approach at their own fan convention. Rather than a big public reveal that might overshadow core RuneScape news, they arranged exclusive press previews behind closed doors. Publications like PCGamesN received early looks at the game and developer interviews, building media relationships ahead of the public announcement.
While RuneFest itself likely cost Jagex hundreds of thousands to produce, the Dragonwilds component was minimal – just a small demo setup and staff time dedicated to press interviews.
GDC 2025 Press Demos (March 20-24)
Similar to RuneFest, Jagex used GDC to strategically preview Dragonwilds to industry journalists without a public-facing booth. IGN and other outlets mentioned seeing gameplay clips during private meetings at the conference.
This approach allowed Jagex to control the narrative and build anticipation while avoiding the expense of a full exhibition presence.
Estimated cost: $15,000-25,000 (primarily travel and meeting space)
Official Reveal Trailers (March 31)
Jagex officially unveiled RuneScape: Dragonwilds with two teaser trailers: a short Gameplay Teaser (~25 seconds) and a longer World Teaser (~1:54) showcasing in-engine footage. These were released simultaneously across YouTube, IGN, and other platforms.
The "Shadow Drop" Launch (April 15)
Perhaps the most brilliant aspect of Jagex's strategy was the surprise launch. During a planned "Developer Deep-Dive" livestream on Twitch, the team unveiled new details about the game and then surprised viewers by announcing it was "available right now" on Steam.
This approach generated substantial earned media, with numerous gaming sites covering the unexpected release. Headlines emphasized the "surprise launch just two weeks after the first trailer," creating a wave of free publicity.
Total Impressions & Organic vs Sponsored
The overall sponsored content rate was just 5%, which is lower than what we observed with Assassin's Creed Shadows (6.6%) but not as impressive as inZOI's remarkable 0.5%. YouTube Videos had the highest sponsorship rate at 8.2%, while TikTok and YouTube Shorts had no sponsored content whatsoever.
Budget Allocation
Jagex's influencer marketing budget for RuneScape: Dragonwilds was $128,477 – comparable to what we saw for Atomfall ($114k) but significantly less than Assassin's Creed Shadows ($1.5M+).
The budget distribution shows an overwhelming focus on Twitch:
Twitch: $114,274 (89.0%)
YouTube Videos: $10,217 (7.0%)
YouTube Streams: $3,985 (3.1%)
This is the most Twitch-heavy allocation we've seen in our analyses so far. Despite YouTube generating more total views, Jagex clearly prioritized live streaming for their campaign.
Targeting Groups
Marketers in the gaming industry often define this thing called a "targeting group" which is a list of games that are similar to your game. The idea is that players (or creators) of those games would also be interested in playing your game. This is the starting point for influencer discovery. It can be valuable for the list to be exhaustive, so that you consider every possible creator when searching, but for my purposes for this analysis, a more concise list is sufficient.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds falls into the genre of "Open World Survival Craft" which I would guess is the one of the most popular categories these days. That means there are plenty of games to include in the targeting group, which also means I'm going to be hyper-restrictive with what makes the cut. I've chosen first + third person, non-shooting crafting games. This means games like V Rising which is super popular, don't make the cut.
Targeting List, in order of similarity:
Enshrouded
Valheim
Aloft
Aska
Bellwright
Conan Exiles
Ark
Grounded
Nightingale (has guns I know...)
Soulmask
Overall, the game most similar to RuneScape: Dragonwilds is Enshrouded by Keen Games. It came out recently, shares a similar visual vibe, and the gameplay/minor & major mechanics are also similar. You'll see RuneScape: Dragonwilds compared to it often in the comments of videos, both favorably and unfavorably.
Market Capture
A market capture analysis shows that RuneScape: Dragonwilds struggled to convert content creators from its target audience:
Twitch: Only 5% of relevant creators in the targeting group (802 out of 15,563) converted to making Dragonwilds content
YouTube: An even lower 2% conversion rate (27 out of 1,040 creators)
These figures are significantly lower than what we observed with Khazan (~12%) and inZOI (~19%), suggesting the game failed to generate strong organic interest among creators despite its established IP.
Sponsored Creator Demographics
The heavy emphasis on German creators (nearly 37% of budget) is surprising for a British developer and represents the highest German allocation we've seen in our analyses. This suggests Jagex identified Germany as a key growth market for survival games.
The gender split shows a continued industry trend toward more balanced representation, with female creators receiving nearly a third of sponsorships.
For the first time, we see some representation in the 35-44 age group. RuneScape is after all, a very old game.
Top 10 Hired Creators
CohhCarnage was chosen as the champion for the campaign, costing the most by far. One of the nice things about hiring Cohh is he'll upload the streams to YouTube for some extra views. Over on YouTube we have TheLazyPeon which was a great choice, but he stood alone as the only activation on YouTube.
My Thoughts
I think the approach that Jagex took with the sudden reveal of the game and release into early access worked because of the massive IP of RuneScape that resonates with the millennial crowd as everyone played it growing up (except me apparently). I would highly, highly suggest avoiding this strategy if you are just about anyone else. For an indie game, this would likely spell disaster.
On the budget side, I really would have expected a higher amount given the size of Jagex. Something in the 300-500k area. The total impressions generated across all platforms was pretty low, especially on YouTube. Maybe the team saw the game as a risky expansion of the IP and wanted to test the waters before going all in on a 1.0 release.
I also would have liked to see a higher % capture rate of open world survival craft creators, but this is still a new metric being evaluated week to week. So far RuneScape: Dragonwilds has come in at the lowest capture rate, but it's also the largest genre analyzed.
Want to See More Data?
To view the full list of 45 sponsored creators for RuneScape: Dragonwilds, head over to Streamforge.com and create a free account. Registration is quick and free, and you’ll gain access to each creator’s key metrics, AI-analyzed interests, entire content library, and detailed demographic breakdowns.
After registering, head to the Lists page, and click "Public Lists" to see the RuneScape: Dragonwilds list.
What's Next
My next analysis will (hopefully) be Tempest Rising published by 3D Realms & Knights Peak. I expect this to be lower budget, and will be very interesting to see how budgets are being leveraged when they are tighter.
If I can't craft a compelling analysis, alternates for consideration would be the 1.0 release of Dinkum by Krafton, Post Trauma by Raw Fury, or Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree by MY.GAMES. Please let me know in the comments if any of these standout to you or if there is another game that should be on my radar.
Hit the subscribe button to get notified when it's released!
What do you think about these findings? Please tell me if you find value, these take a long time to research and write! Share your thoughts in the comments!