Today, publisher Jagex announced that both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape would be releasing on mobile devices. The publisher also announced that both games would be able to play interchangeably with their respective PC versions.

According to the release provided by Jagex, the introduction of the two titles to smartphones and tablets marks the first time that any mainstream MMORPG has been able to provide a full massively multiplayer experience to both mobile and PC platforms and allow for interoperable play. Not only does this mean that players will be able to switch between playing on the two platforms at will, but previous characters will also carry-over.

Jagex goes on to explain that the process of moving between platforms is as simple as going AFK from PC, then launching the mobile application. If you so choose, you can even play RuneScape or Old School RuneScape on a mobile device without ever needing to play on PC.

Apparently Jagex did its homework in deciding to pursue this endeavor, as Chief Operating Officer Phil Mansell notes the statistics involved.

“We believe in taking our games to wherever our players want them; recent player surveys showed an overwhelming 90% of active players and 64% of former players telling us of their very high intent-to-play on mobile.”

Old School RuneScape will be making its mobile platform debut sometime this winter, whereas RuneScape will release for mobile platforms shortly thereafter.