Summary
An OSRS clone built with OpenAI's coding tools has already disappeared from the internet after Jagex stepped in.
The browser-based multiplayer game, called Elderwood, was created by Rohan Varma, a developer working on OpenAI's Codex coding project. Varma initially presented the project as an AI-built RuneScape-style multiplayer game, but its similarities to Old School RuneScape quickly attracted attention from the OSRS community. For players, can buy OSRS gold for prepare.
Just three days after its public launch, Elderwood was taken offline following a legal notice from Jagex.
What Was the Elderwood OSRS Clone?
Elderwood was a browser-based multiplayer game that closely recreated elements associated with Old School RuneScape.
Varma revealed the project on September 6 after using OpenAI's Codex tools to create the game. Reports indicate that he asked GPT-6 Astra to build RuneScape and deploy the result through a ChatGPT Site.
The result was not simply a game inspired by the broader MMORPG genre. Elderwood used recognizable OSRS-style visuals, interfaces, skills, items and locations.
Places such as Lumbridge, Varrock and Falador appeared in the project, making the connection to RuneScape particularly obvious. Varma also openly referred to the project as a RuneScape or OSRS clone.
That immediately created a problem.
For an established MMO with 25 years of history, recognizable locations, game systems and visual elements are not just generic fantasy concepts. They are closely associated with Jagex's RuneScape IP.
Why Did Jagex Shut Down Elderwood?
The biggest question for OSRS players is why Elderwood disappeared so quickly.
The answer is straightforward: Jagex sent a notice asking for the website to be taken down.
According to reporting on the shutdown, Elderwood was removed on September 9, only a few days after its September 6 launch. The game's website was replaced with a farewell message explaining that Jagex had requested its removal and that Elderwood would no longer operate.
This wasn't the first time the OSRS community had raised concerns.
After Elderwood began spreading through the OSRS subreddit, players criticized the project for copying recognizable RuneScape elements rather than creating an original MMO inspired by the same genre. Varma later acknowledged that the project had received a sudden spike in users after going viral within the OSRS community.
Jagex's position is particularly understandable given the company's broader protection of the RuneScape and Old School RuneScape brands and associated intellectual property. Jagex currently describes itself as the company stewarding the RuneScape universe and its different games.
Elderwood Had Thousands of Players Before the Shutdown
Despite its extremely short lifespan, the AI-made RuneScape clone attracted a surprisingly large amount of attention.
According to reports, approximately 3,000 accounts were created during the project's early period. Players collectively spent more than 1,000 hours in the game, while the peak concurrent player count reached around 55.
For a project that was effectively an AI coding experiment, those numbers were enough to demonstrate the potential reach of an instantly deployable browser MMO.
Varma had also continued expanding Elderwood after launch, with reported additions including Varrock, Falador, skilling tasks and a dueling system.
But the faster the project expanded, the more obvious its connection to OSRS became.
That ultimately gave Jagex little reason to allow it to continue.
What Happened to Elderwood After the Cease-and-Desist?
Elderwood is no longer playable.
After receiving Jagex's notice, Varma shut down the website and posted a farewell message thanking the players who had joined the short-lived MMO.
The project's high scores were reportedly left available as a record of the players' progress, but the actual game was discontinued.
The speed of the shutdown is perhaps the most notable part of the entire story.
September 6: Elderwood was publicly revealed.
September 7: The project gained attention in the OSRS community and thousands of accounts had already been created.
September 9: Jagex's legal notice led to the website being taken down.
That gives the OSRS clone a lifespan of only a few days.
The Bigger Problem for AI Game Development
The Elderwood story also raises a much bigger question for the gaming industry: How far can AI-assisted game development go before it crosses the line into copying an existing game?
AI coding tools can dramatically reduce the time needed to create prototypes. Elderwood demonstrated that a developer could go from a prompt to a playable multiplayer browser experience remarkably quickly.
But speed does not eliminate intellectual-property concerns.
There's a huge difference between asking an AI to create an original MMORPG featuring skills, quests and fantasy towns, and asking it to recreate recognizable elements from Old School RuneScape.
The technology may make game development faster, but developers still need to decide what they are actually creating.
For OSRS, the Elderwood incident is therefore more than another strange AI story. It demonstrates just how quickly generative AI can reproduce the structure and appearance of an established game—and how quickly the rights holder can respond when that reproduction gets too close.
Will the OSRS Clone Elderwood Return?
For now, Elderwood is shut down, and there is no indication that the same RuneScape-style version will return.
The project may ultimately be remembered less as a successful MMO and more as a striking demonstration of how quickly AI-assisted coding can produce a playable game—and how quickly legal and intellectual-property issues can stop that experiment.
For Old School RuneScape players, however, the lesson is much simpler: creating a game inspired by OSRS is one thing. Creating a game that closely reproduces OSRS's recognizable world, interface and locations is another. For players, can buy OSRS gold for prepare.
Jagex has now made its position clear.
And Elderwood's three-day lifespan is probably all the evidence anyone needs.
