Jagex has dated the legacy RuneScape account migration for November 17, 2026. Here is who is affected, what to do before the deadline, and what changes for long-term access.
Image: oldschool.runescape.wiki
Jagex has put a date on the legacy account cutoff
Jagex says all RuneScape and Old School RuneScape Legacy accounts will need to make a one-time move to Jagex Accounts on November 17, 2026. After that date, players who have not upgraded will be unable to log in until they complete the migration.
That is the practical tension in this RuneScape account migration: Jagex is not saying old characters will be deleted if a player misses the date, but access will stop at the login door until the account transfer is finished. In its official RuneScape and Old School RuneScape posts dated October 16, Jagex says players will need their existing username or login email and password to make the jump.
The Old School RuneScape version of the announcement states November 17, 2026 as the day the migration happens, while the RuneScape site phrases it as the day Jagex is “planning” to make the migration happen. Both official posts point to the same date and the same player-facing consequence: Legacy accounts become subject to mandatory Jagex Accounts migration, and anyone still on the old login system should upgrade before the cutoff to avoid interruption.
MassivelyOP summarized the move as Jagex preparing to migrate all of its legacy RuneScape accounts, while MMOs.com reported that players who have not upgraded will be blocked from logging in until they complete the one-time migration. The strongest source remains Jagex’s own announcement and support documentation, which lay out the affected account types, the platform exceptions, and the security reasons behind the change.
Who counts as a Legacy account player
The affected group is specific: RuneScape and Old School RuneScape players who still sign in through the older account system rather than a Jagex Account. If your daily routine still begins with old RuneScape login credentials, you are in the group Jagex is targeting with this Jagex Accounts legacy migration.
Jagex says the upgrade uses the account’s existing username or login email and password. Once the migration is complete, Jagex Support says the old RuneScape login details become invalid, and players instead use the new Jagex Account email and password for imported characters. This is a one-way account change. Support warns that once a character has been upgraded, there is no going back, so the email attached to the Jagex Account should be secure and accessible.
Players who already have a Jagex Account are not starting from scratch. Jagex Support says existing Jagex Account users can add new RuneScape characters through account management settings. The important limitation is permanence: Support says up to 50 RuneScape characters can be added to a Jagex Account, but they cannot be removed once linked.
That makes the migration closer to reorganizing a long-running RPG roster than changing a password. RuneScape players often have mains, Ironmen, skillers, restricted accounts, seasonal experiments, and old characters with sentimental value. Jagex has raised the character cap from 20 to 50 per Jagex Account, according to the official announcement, specifically after feedback from players with many alts. For most players, that should make consolidation easier, but it also makes the linking step worth doing carefully.
Platform logins have an exception, but not a full exemption
Jagex’s platform account messaging has an important nuance. The company says players who log in through Steam, Apple, Google, or Game Center do not need to do anything for ordinary login through those methods. That earlier guidance remains true, according to the October 16 announcement.
However, Jagex also says those players will need to create a Jagex Account if they decide to use the Jagex Launcher or access some website features, including Support. MMOs.com also reported this distinction, noting that linked platform logins can continue for login, while the Launcher and certain website services depend on a Jagex Account.
For players who only ever tap in through a mobile-linked account, that may sound like a distant concern. In practice, account access tends to matter most when something goes wrong: a device changes, a login method breaks, support is needed, or a player wants to move between desktop and mobile. Jagex’s stated goal is a unified experience for all accounts, and the tradeoff is that some features now sit behind the newer account framework even if a platform login remains usable for play.
There is also a client question for Old School RuneScape players. Jagex Support says players will need to use the Jagex Launcher to play through their favored desktop client, including RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and RuneLite. MMOs.com reports that approved third-party clients, including RuneLite, will remain accessible through the Launcher. Based on the provided sources, the migration is not presented as removing approved client access, but it does make the Launcher part of the desktop access path tied to Jagex Accounts.
What players should do before November 17
Jagex recommends upgrading before November 17 rather than waiting for a forced prompt after the switch. The official posts say players who have not upgraded will begin seeing new reminders when they log in to RuneScape or Old School RuneScape. Jagex describes the upgrade as taking only a few minutes, though the support page also makes clear that players should not rush through the account-linking choices blindly.
The safest route, according to Jagex Support, is to log in directly through RuneScape Account settings to upgrade. Support specifically warns players to avoid entering login details into other websites. It also says players should create the Jagex Account with a secure, accessible email address, because that email and the new Jagex password become the credentials for all imported characters.
Players with multiple characters should make a short audit before migrating. Confirm which accounts are active, which are eligible to play, which login details still work, and which characters you want under the same Jagex Account. Jagex Support says a character cannot be imported if it is not eligible to play, and linked characters cannot be removed once added. The increased 50-character cap gives heavy alt players more room, but the permanence of linking still matters.
The migration also changes purchasing flow. Jagex Support says that to purchase items from the store, players will log in with their Jagex Account and then select the character that should receive the purchase. For a single-character player this is mostly housekeeping. For anyone managing several builds or account types, it is another reason to name, organize, and verify characters before treating the new account as a vault for everything.
The security argument behind the migration
Jagex says the older account system lacks many modern features needed to protect characters. In the official announcement, the studio points to phishing and social engineering as persistent threats across RuneScape and the wider games space. Jagex describes Jagex Accounts, launched in 2023, as a move to a modern codebase with stronger passwords, improved two-factor authentication options, and additional notifications for logins or account changes.
MMOs.com reports the same security features and adds that Jagex Accounts include backup codes. The official post says Jagex spent three years iterating on the system with player feedback and that more than 89% of active players were already using Jagex Accounts when the announcement was written.
That adoption figure changes the shape of the update. This is not the first day of a new login experiment. It is Jagex closing the loop on a system that most active players have already moved into, while leaving a remaining population of returning players, old-account holders, and platform-login users to understand the new boundaries.
The phishing angle deserves special care because account migrations are exactly the sort of moment bad actors exploit. Jagex Support has a June warning about new phishing methods, including fake Player Moderator application forms asking for login details and illegitimate Jagex Launcher downloads hosted on other websites. Support says there are no Player Moderator application forms and that anything downloaded for RuneScape must be from a Jagex.com or RuneScape.com subdomain to be considered safe. In other words, the migration is real, but so is the risk of fake migration pages.
Launcher and operating-system loose ends
The account transfer also intersects with Jagex’s launcher plans. In the official RuneScape announcement, Jagex says an Apple Silicon version of the Jagex Launcher will be released by the end of October. The Old School RuneScape post similarly says the Apple Silicon Launcher will release by the end of October and notes that Jagex will then turn its attention to clients so they have Apple Silicon support well ahead of the cutoff date.
Jagex says this will future-proof the Launcher before a requirement arrives next year with MacOS 28. The announcement also warns that the Apple Silicon Launcher will raise the minimum specification for the Jagex Launcher on Mac. The provided source text does not include those minimum specs, so Mac players should check Jagex’s linked Mac support information before assuming an older machine will remain unaffected.
Linux players have a separate update in the Old School RuneScape version of the announcement: Jagex says the Jagex Launcher for Linux beta is available now. The RuneScape version of the provided source text does not include that Linux paragraph, so the clearest supported statement is that the OSRS news post confirms a Linux Launcher beta release.
For desktop players, the practical concern is timing. If you are on Windows and already using the Launcher, the migration may be mostly an account-management task. If you are on Mac, especially older hardware, the Apple Silicon transition and minimum spec change are worth checking before the account requirement becomes unavoidable. If you are on Linux, the beta status means there may still be rough edges compared with a fully mature launcher path, although the source material does not provide performance or compatibility details.
Long-term access now depends on doing the transfer cleanly
The important confirmed point is narrow but consequential: after November 17, 2026, RuneScape legacy accounts that have not migrated will not be able to log in until the upgrade is complete. Jagex says accounts and characters remain safely stored if the deadline is missed, according to MMOs.com’s report on the official announcement, but access stays blocked until the player completes the migration later.
For an RPG built around years of accumulated progress, that makes the account layer part of the character sheet. Quest completions, combat stats, bank value, pets, Ironman restrictions, old holiday items, and alt projects all depend on being able to authenticate reliably. Jagex’s argument is that Jagex Accounts offer the stronger security foundation needed to protect that history. The cost is a mandatory transfer for holdouts and a more centralized login model.
The best move for most players is to migrate before the deadline through official RuneScape account pages, verify the destination email, enable the available security tools, and be deliberate about which characters are linked. Players who rely on Steam, Apple, Google, or Game Center can keep using those methods for login, but should understand that Launcher use and some website services, including Support, require a Jagex Account.
There are still details players should confirm directly with Jagex before acting, especially Mac minimum specs, Linux Launcher behavior, and any account eligibility issues. What is no longer uncertain is the direction of travel. Jagex Accounts are becoming required for Legacy account holders, and the RuneScape account migration is now dated rather than theoretical.