Jagex, the publisher behind RuneScape, has registered several trademarks in the UK, seemingly as a way to combat third-party websites selling in-game currency.
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The company has filed two trademarks in the UK, one for “OSRS Gold” and another for “RS Gold”, with the filing noting that the company has registered the use of the phrases as words. This would presumably halt third-party sites from being able to advertise that they sell RS Gold.
A cursory Google search of either term returns hundreds of websites, many of them with one of the terms in their URL, that offer currency in RuneScape in exchange for real money.
This followed the news on October 13 that Jagex was putting an end to “real-world trading”. In a post to its blog, “The RuneScape Team” explained that “gold purchased through RWT [real world trading] is a problem in any online game featuring a tradeable currency.”
Jagex says it will be sending “messages to players we’ve identified as engaging in RWT” within “the next few hours”.
“For anyone who has been involved, we want to be clear – this is your one and only warning,” it added.
Also announced was the news that the game’s PvP mode, Duel Arena, would see sweeping changes that included the stricter enforcement of the game’s code of conduct, in order to encourage more positive play. Jagex says the feature “has been a flashpoint for this toxic behaviour”.
Before that, however, what the publisher calls “short-term measures” will be implemented: “until our development teams can deliver a major update that fully replaces the Duel Arena next year.”
In other news, Netflix has released a Netflix Games app on the Google App store, which will offer five games – including two Stranger Things titles – from today (November 2).
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