It's official: Runescape is the biggest free MMO

If there's one thing gamers like more than a big game, it's a free one.

And according to Guinness World Records, the biggest, freest game ever is Runescape. Gamedaily.biz reports that the record-keeping institution made it official by recognizing the popular browser-based title as the world's largest free MMO.

Geoff Iddison, CEO of Jagex, was pleased by the news.

"We are delighted to be recognised as the biggest free MMO in the world," he said. "This is great recognition for RuneScape and following the launch of RuneScape HD in July, RuneScape is going from strength to strength."

So how big is it? Over five million players are playing the game for free, with an additional one million playing the more robust subscription-based version. Jagex claims that makes it the second largest MMO period, trailing only industry leader World of Warcraft, which itself enjoys well over ten million paid subscriptions. Jagex also estimates that nearly 140 million people have played Runescape since its initial launch in 2001.

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