Welcome back to another wonderful edition of Morning Checkpoint. Ethan is still out doing stuff at GDC. Sounds fun. Though he is struggling to play Marathon via the hotel’s wi-fi. What a shame. Anyway, today we have news about a price increase coming to Runescape, an update on the next Yoshi game, a Lego Luigi surprise, and some PlayStation leaks. It’s the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news, rumors, and culture. And…oh wow, is that George Lucas? Quick, Tom Cruise, yell something nice at him for all of us. Thanks!
Runescape gets another price increase, less than two years after its last one
Long-running free-to-play fantasy MMORPG and school computer lab favorite Runescape is getting another price increase. As spotted by PC Gamer, the MMO’s monthly membership, which unlocks a massive list of features, locations, quests, bonus skills, and more, now costs $15 a month. It was previously $14. The annual cost has also gone up today. It now costs $132 for a year of Runescape membership. Before it cost $100. Runescape’s membership now costs as much as World of Warcraft‘s monthly $15 fee. In fact, in some parts of the world, Runescape‘s monthly fee is higher than WoW‘s.
A price increase on membership would be annoying by itself, but this is the second price increase in less than two years. In September 2024, Runescape’s membership jumped from $12.50 to $14, and the annual subscription plan went from $80 to $100. Yeah, that now means the annual sub for Runescape membership has gone up over $50 in the last two years, turning a once solid deal into a less valuable offer.
Players who signed up before September 2024 are still grandfathered into the old price for a monthly subscription, but everyone else has to start paying the new prices on their next billing date.
As for why Runescape is increasing prices, the devs say it’s to help them better support the “cost of infrastructure, upgraded systems, and new content.” Not mentioned in the blog post announcing the price increase: In early 2024, Runescape developers Jagex were bought up by a private equity firm.
Lego Announces New Luigi-Themed Mario Kart Set
Happy Mario Day! To celebrate, Lego and Nintendo announced…uh, a Luigi-themed Mario Kart Lego set. Okay. Sure. This set was previously teased earlier this year, and yes, Luigi’s kart here is directly inspired by the “Death Stare” meme. I can’t wait to see people modify this set to recreate Luigi’s infamous staredown.
PS Plus Extra games leak
Reliable leaker and Dealabs reporter Billbil-Kun claims that March’s PS Plus Extra games will include Space Marine 2 and Persona 5 Royal. Meanwhile, Premium members will also get one new retro game, the PSP exclusive Tekken Dark Resurrection.
Here’s the full leaked lineup, which is likely to be officially revealed by Sony tomorrow, on March 11.
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PS5)
- Persona 5 Royal (PS5 / PS4)
- Madden NFL 26 (PS5)
- Metal Eden (PS5)
- The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (PS5)
- Astroneer (PS4)
- Tekken Dark Resurrection (PSP) (Premium Only)
Yoshi’s Next Big Game Is Launching In May
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, a game I keep forgetting exists, is launching on May 21 exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2. It looks…fine? I think most people will still be playing Pokopia when it arrives.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 might not be written by the franchise’s creator
Skeet Ulrich, who starred in the live-action adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, recently talked about the future of the series during a panel at Monster-Mania Con. And reportedly, he revealed that a third installment is being planned. Interestingly, it sounds like the creator behind the original horror games that inspired the movie series, Scott Cawthon, isn’t going to be writing the script for this possible third film. Cawthon wrote the last two scripts himself.
“There’s supposedly a lot of Henry Emily and William Afton,” said Ulrich. “But to be honest, they’re writing it now. They’ve just hired the writers, so they’re…It’s too early for me to say.”
Universal has yet to officially greenlight a sequel, but considering both movies made a lot of money, a third entry isn’t surprising. And there are reports that it might already be in pre-production.
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