November 22nd 2021, Cambridge, UK – After being unavailable to earn in-game for 20 years, RuneScape’s rarest and most valuable of item – the Party Hat – returns to the game today in The Golden Party Hat Hunt.
A special event as celebrations for RuneScape’s 20th anniversary year comes to a close, The Golden Party Hat Hunt gives players the one-off opportunity to earn an all-new gold edition of the elusive, precious item. Golden Party Hats are only available in this time-limited event and players have until January 3rd 2022 to claim their crown. After the cut-off date, they will never be available to earn again!
The original Party Hats were exclusively available to players two decades ago in RuneScape’s 2001 Christmas event. The hats were introduced as a festive novelty cosmetic item and intended to be worthless and disposable as they didn’t provide the wearer any benefits or stat bonuses, leading to many players immediately discarding them.
However, those that held onto their Party Hats of the years became the elite few and the hats themselves became an investment. The rarity of the item, coupled with the significance of owning a Party Hat as a status symbol for players who had been with the game since the beginning, saw demand soar.
Over the years, Party Hats were changing hands between players for millions of gold pieces and, in 2015, they hit 2.1 billion gold – the maximum value tradable in a single transaction on RuneScape’s Grand Exchange. The hats now play a pivotal role in the RuneScape economy as investments, cash placements, staked items, and collectables.
After the 2001 event, Party Hats were never made available again – until now. Today’s in-game launch of The Golden Party Hat Hunt once again gives RuneScape members the chance to earn what could become a tradable rare item.
To become the proud owner of a Golden Party Hat, players need to complete various objectives to earn golden shards. Once eight shards have been collected, players then work their milliner’s magic to combine the shards into a Golden Party Hat. The event is not only time-limited to the end of the year, but Golden Party Hats are also limited to one per player, making these new adornments a worthy investment. Furthermore, to recognise such a momentous occasion, the Grand Exchange will be transformed into a Golden Party Hat winter wonderland.
Phil Mansell, CEO, Jagex, said:
“RuneScape’s 20th anniversary year has been an absolute cracker for content – we’ve had the multi-part anniversary quest, the epic Elder God Wars series, the game’s mobile debut, and now it’s absolutely magical and very ‘RuneScapey’ to bring back the Party Hat as a nod to our very first Christmas event in 2001. For what was intended to be such a throw-away in-game item, the original Party Hats are now the stuff of legend for players – both in status and value. Today, the original hats are so rare that they’re RuneScape’s most valuable items and are hardly ever available for in-game player trading. The Golden Party Hat Hunt is everyone’s chance to play for one all over again and earn an exclusive item that tells the rest of Gielinor that they were part of RuneScape’s epic 20th year.”
Also launching in RuneScape today is the fourth and final part of the anniversary quest, Once Upon a Time, which has run across the celebratory year.
Once Upon a Time: Finale is the conclusion of the adventure that explores RuneScape’s past, present, and future and brings the story arc to a close for Relomia, the quest’s antagonist. In Finale, players will visit three locations that present a potential glimpse of the future, including the Black Knight's Fortress, the World Gate, and the island of Kami-Shima as they help Relomia discover her true self and make a difference to the world.
Completing Finale rewards players with earn four Quest points, a new T5 magical dice, the penultimate reward track unlock from May's Quest Point Caravan, a medium XP lamp, Relomia's Shadow Rip Home Teleport cosmetic override, two Treasure Hunter keys and there’s one further surprise to be discovered.
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NOTES TO EDITOR
Premier Club now available
RuneScape has also introduced Premier Club, its best-value 12-month membership package that delivers full access to the entirety of RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, in addition to instant rewards and exclusive benefits throughout the year ahead. Available to purchase now through to March 1st 2022, the 12-month membership package is available for GBP £49.99 / EURO €64.99 / USD $69.99 (regular 12-month rate: GBP £62.99 / EURO €88.99 / USD $99.99). For all rewards, benefits and to purchase a Premier Club membership, visit https://rs.runescape.com/premier-club
RuneScape: The First 20 Years – Official book
As part of RuneScape’s 20th anniversary, RuneScape: The First 20 Years – An Illustrated History is a lavishly illustrated, full-colour, hardcover book filled with insider info, and now available from Dark Horse Books. Serving as the official companion book for the game, it gives players a never-before-seen look at the making of iconic online fantasy RPG. For more information, visit https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3006-168/Runescape-The-First-20-Years-An-Illustrated-History-HC
About RuneScape
Twenty years in the making and acclaimed by PC Gamer as “one of the most endearing and unique MMOs available”, RuneScape is an ever-expanding, living game that’s bursting with activity and life. Set in a medieval fantasy land, begin by creating a character and then embark on epic journeys through a vast sandbox world that’s full of gods, warring races, unexplored dungeons, and glittering riches.
Propelled by the game’s narrative, choose your own path through enthralling quests, and progress through 28 diverse skills to shape a single character in a classless world. RuneScape on mobile is now available for iOS and Android devices, featuring cross-platform play between mobile and desktop editions, enabling players to seamlessly jump between devices and take their adventure anywhere. In RuneScape, you get to be the hero you always wanted to be and, with new content added almost every week, there’s always a new and adventurous experience to look forward to. Become the hero you were born to be at www.runescape.com.
About Jagex
A leader in creating deep and engaging live games on PC and mobile, Jagex’s flagship MMORPG, RuneScape, has welcomed almost 300 million player accounts to its world and is a $1billion lifetime revenue franchise. Today the RuneScape franchise exists beyond running games in live operations; our titles are living games that connect and inspire millions of players, with content and experiences both inside and outside of inexhaustible game worlds. Both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, on PC and mobile, offer ever-evolving, highly active worlds and our community-focussed development ethos empowers players to have a real say in how each game is shaped. Now we’re expanding and extending our portfolio with fresh franchise titles and new IP to bring life to the living games of the future. Jagex employs more than 450 people at its Cambridge headquarters. Career information can be found at www.jagex.com