Most of the big 2000s MMOs never shut down. They split in two. Jagex, founded in 2000 and sold by Carlyle to CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments in a deal announced on February 9, 2024, still runs RuneScape alongside Old School RuneScape, a version rebuilt from a 2007 backup that Jagex put to a player vote in February 2013. Nexon still runs MapleStory, whose Global version launched in 2005, and has set MapleStory Classic World, an official old-style server, for October 21, 2026. The real casualties were the sequels: MapleStory 2’s global service closed on May 27, 2020. What happened to old MMOs, in other words, is that their players asked for the old version back, and the companies agreed.
What Happened to Old MMOs: Where They Stand Now
| Game | Status, as of September 11, 2026 | The “classic” version |
|---|---|---|
| RuneScape | Running, owned by Jagex under CVC and Haveli | Old School RuneScape, from a 2007 backup, opened in 2013 |
| MapleStory | Running, Global version since 2005 | MapleStory Classic World, launching October 21, 2026 |
| MapleStory 2 | Global service closed May 27, 2020 | None |
| Habbo Hotel | Running, owned by Azerion | Habbo Hotel: Origins, a 2005 recreation, announced June 18, 2024 |
The pattern is consistent. The original games survived. Players drifted from the modern versions, and the companies answered with official classic editions rather than letting unofficial servers own the nostalgia.
What Happened to RuneScape
The company
RuneScape’s developer is still Jagex, still in Cambridge, England, but it has changed owners. On February 9, 2024, Carlyle announced that it had agreed to sell Jagex to CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII and Haveli Investments. The release, read September 11, 2026, says Jagex was established in 2000, employs more than 700 people, and that the RuneScape franchise has generated $1.5 billion in lifetime revenue. Terms were not disclosed.
That revenue figure is the most important fact in this article. The browser MMO that so many people played on school and family computers did not die. By the account of the company selling it, it became a $1.5 billion franchise.
Old School RuneScape
The more interesting story is the split. In a news post on February 13, 2013, headed “2007 – Old School RuneScape… You Vote!”, Jagex’s then chief executive Mark Gerhard told players the company was “considering opening up a version of RuneScape from 2007,” with a poll opening on Friday, February 15, for two weeks. The version was built from an August 2007 backup of the game, and, according to the Old School RuneScape Wiki, its servers opened on February 22, 2013.
The key word in that post was “vote.” Old School RuneScape did not stay a frozen museum of 2007. Jagex describes it as a separate game in which major changes are put to player polls, and thirteen years of those polls have added a great deal that the 2007 game never had.
Carlyle’s release lists both games, RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, as live worlds “on PC and mobile.” The version that started as a backup is now one of Jagex’s two pillars.
What Happened to MapleStory
The original is still running
MapleStory is also still live. In a November 14, 2025 press release, read September 11, 2026, Nexon said that “In 2005, the Global version of MapleStory launched,” and marked its 20th anniversary with a winter update and a new playable character. The game has changed a great deal over those twenty years, which is exactly why players asked for a classic version.
The sequel did not survive
MapleStory 2 is the counterexample. Nexon announced on March 18, 2020, as reported by Game Developer the same day, that it would close the global MapleStory 2 service on May 27, 2020. Nexon’s stated reason was that “we will not be able to provide the type of service that would live up to your expectations,” and that long-term continuation would be difficult.
That is the other half of the old-MMO story. Players stayed with the game they knew and did not follow the company to its sequel.
MapleStory Classic World
Nexon announced MapleStory Classic World as part of Global MapleStory’s 20th anniversary. According to Noisy Pixel’s report of Nexon’s announcement, published August 21, 2026 and citing a blog post by Hanbyeol Oh, Chief Product Officer of Global MapleStory, Founder’s Access begins October 6, 2026 and the full launch is October 21, 2026. PC Gamer reported that the original lead game designer is in charge of the new classic servers.
Because this article is dated before that launch, treat the dates as Nexon’s schedule, not as something that has already happened.
Are Classic Servers the Real Thing?
This is the question behind most searches for old MMOs, and the honest answer is: no, and that is the point.
A classic server is not a time machine. Old School RuneScape began as a literal backup of the 2007 game, which is as close to “the real thing” as it is possible to get. It then spent thirteen years adding new content, voted on by players. It is now a different game that feels like 2007, not 2007 itself.
The 2007 community is gone. What made the old game was not only the code. It was a particular crowd, on particular school and family computers, in a particular year. No server can restore that, and the players arriving at a classic launch in 2026 are adults with jobs, guides and wikis.
The official version is the safe one. Classic editions exist partly because unofficial private servers filled the gap for years. We do not point anyone to those. An official classic server is run by the company that owns the game, with the account security and moderation that implies.
What you are really getting is the rules, pace and look of the old game, run by its owner, with a population that chose to be there. For many players that is better than the memory.
Why the 2000s Web MMO Era Ended
The plugins died. Much of the browser gaming of the 2000s ran on plugins, and Adobe’s end of Flash Player support on December 31, 2020 finished off what was left. Games that survived did so by rebuilding their clients.
The audience moved to phones. The casual player who once opened a browser game at lunch now opens a phone game. That shift, which we trace in what happened to Angry Birds, took the easy, free, drop-in audience that web MMOs depended on.
Chat moved elsewhere. For many players, the MMO was where you talked to friends after school. That job went to messaging apps and then to social platforms, the same drift that ended MSN Messenger.
Sequels split the audience. MapleStory 2 shows the risk. A company that asks its players to start again in a new game can lose them to the old one.
The games that made it were the ones that kept the original alive and eventually offered the past back on request. Habbo did it with Origins in 2024. RuneScape did it in 2013. MapleStory is doing it this October. The communities that had no such route mostly disappeared, a pattern we set out across the period in the platforms that shaped the internet, then vanished.
FAQ
Is RuneScape still running in 2026?
Yes. Jagex runs both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape on PC and mobile. Jagex was sold by Carlyle to CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments in a deal announced February 9, 2024, and Carlyle said the franchise had generated $1.5 billion in lifetime revenue.
What is Old School RuneScape?
A separate version of RuneScape built from an August 2007 backup of the game. Jagex announced the idea on February 13, 2013 and put it to a player poll. It has since grown into its own game, with major changes decided by player votes.
When does MapleStory Classic World launch?
Nexon has scheduled Founder’s Access for October 6, 2026 and the full launch for October 21, 2026, according to its August 2026 announcement as reported by Noisy Pixel.
Did MapleStory 2 shut down?
Yes. Nexon closed the global MapleStory 2 service on May 27, 2020, after announcing the closure on March 18, 2020. The original MapleStory continues.
The Short Version
- The old MMOs mostly never closed. RuneScape and MapleStory are both live in 2026.
- Jagex was sold to CVC and Haveli in a deal announced February 9, 2024. RuneScape has earned $1.5 billion in lifetime revenue.
- Old School RuneScape began in February 2013 from a 2007 backup and grew into its own game.
- MapleStory’s Global version launched in 2005. Classic World is set for October 21, 2026.
- MapleStory 2’s global service closed on May 27, 2020.
- Classic servers are not 2007. They are the old rules, run officially, for a new crowd.
