Runescape has been enjoying a resurgence of popularity, but a recent court ruling in the United Kingdom may have made it a landmark in the realm of video game property. Essentially, an appeals court has ruled that theft of in-game currency from RuneScape is also theft in the real world.
Per IGN, the ruling came in the case of Andrew Lakeman, an ex-Jagex developer who is accused of stealing 705 billion gold–or approximately $750,000 in real-world funds–from 68 RuneScape players. Lakeman is also alleged to have sold this in-game currency for Bitcoin.
The initial judge in Lakeman’s case gave the defendant a favorable ruling by finding that the gold that was stolen had no actual value because the game can create an infinite amount. The Court of Appeal disagreed with the first judge’s take and found that the in-game currency does have value, and that stealing it constitutes theft in the eyes of the law.
“[RuneScape’s gold is] properly described as something which can be stolen as a matter of normal use of language,” reads the judgment. “They do not fall within any of the established exceptions. They are not ‘pure knowledge:’ functionally, they exist as identifiable assets distinct from the code which gives rise to them and outside the minds of people. There is no good policy reason for excepting them from the category of property which can be stolen. On the contrary, they are assets which have an ascertainable monetary value and which may be traded for that value both in the game and outside the game.”
The ruling went on to note that RuneScape’s gold is routinely sold for real money, and that stealing it “deprives their possessor of their use and value.”
In the short term, this means the prosecution of Lakeman will be able to proceed. This is still new territory for law in the United Kingdom, and American courts haven’t fully settled the issue either. But this does establish a precedent for someone to be charged with a crime for actions they took regarding in-game currency. Lakeman could potentially be the first person imprisoned for that charge as well.
RuneScape developer Jagex recently decided to remove microtransactions from the game. Jagex also come down firmly against including generative AI content in the game.