We spoke to Jagex's Henrique Olifiers about the launch of RuneScape HD at E3 a few weeks ago (and covered it as part of our Online World Atlas a long, long time ago!) and since the launch of RuneScape HD Jagex have claimed over half a million new players, increasing the monthly rate of new free accounts by more than 50% in a few weeks.

They've also let us know that the Guiness Book of World Records has voted RuneScape HD as the "World's Most Popular Free MMO" again, with the game having seen over 135 million users since 2001 and an active player list of 6.5 million, and that internet ranking site Hitwise has ranked runescape.com as the second most visted game site in the US.

Runescape HD uses a thin-client concept that means the initial download of the title is only 1.2 megabytes, and due to procedural generation it doesn't have to download bandwidth-heavy textures and models.

"With the total graphics overhaul introduced in RuneScape HD, new audiences were drawn in – the game is browser-based, requires no downloads and utilizes the graphics card within a player's computer to heighten visuals," stated a Jagex representative, explaining the growth. "Existing players are also still able to log in and play from the same machines they did when the game launched in 2001 -- no additional investment is required. Players can access the game from anywhere, at anytime."