Jagex has partnered with developer Games by Malcs to officially brand Melvor Idle 2 as a RuneScape spinoff, granting it the subtitle "A RuneScape Adventure." The original Melvor Idle, a RuneScape-inspired idle game, previously partnered with Jagex five years ago when the publisher took on its distribution.
According to an announcement blog from Jagex, the developer's support and branding aim to help Melvor Idle 2 "even bigger." While the game is not set within RuneScape's Gielinor, Jagex believes that an idle game built by fans and inspired by their MMOs is worthy of the RuneScape name. This collaboration signifies a deeper integration than the previous publisher-developer relationship.
Despite RuneScape's history of monetization controversies, Melvor Idle 2 is slated to feature no microtransactions. The sequel will offer an expanded idle RPG experience with updated visuals and an increased level cap of 120. The developers acknowledge that the adventure will not take place in the traditional RuneScape setting, but suggest that players may not prioritize lore and worldbuilding in an idle game. One notable aspect of the original partnership was the Reddit community's initial skepticism, which was documented on Reddit.