The launch was earlier in the month and even the Early Access version proved this formula resonated with RPG gamers, having been downloaded over 600,000 times in Steam and both of the major mobile app stores. This is far more than the initial goals of RS Gold Malcolm when he first launched his game. Naturally, he had hopes that his game would be successful but there was no 'endgame that he was thinking of.
"Luckily the excitement that drove these early days was with me for the years of work. Being able to work together with Jagex directly on this project is an incredible opportunity to fulfill a dream," he says. "I would never have imagined that I'd ever get support from the very studio that inspired me in the first place..
Making the leap from hobby into fan project was definitely scary however, looking back at where I've ended-up, and the help I've received from the beginning of Games by Malcs as an new studio, it's certainly been for the most successful."
Despite the strong ties between Melvor Idle and RuneScape, and the involvement direct of Jagex however, the publisher decided to Buy RS Gold maintain the game as an original IP rather than launch it as the official RuneScape spin-off. It was a acknowledgment that Malcolm had achieved in a place that Jagex did not.