UK judge rules that RuneScape gold is fair game when suing for theft, at least in this case where an ex-developer stole $700,000 worth of it

A low-poly Old School RuneScape man stares ahead, dejected. — (Image credit: Jagex / Nerdycatgamer on Reddit)

You can't kill that which has no life, but you can apparently steal that which has no value. A UK judge recently ruled that stealing gold pieces in Old School RuneScape counts for the purposes of at least one judgment that was made on Jan. 14, as spotted by Gamesradar.

The case involves an ex-employee of RuneScape dev Jagex who's been accused of hacking 68 player accounts, seizing hundreds of billions of gold pieces which he then sold outside the game for Bitcoin. Jagex argued the gold was worth over $700,000.

The argument is that, even though RuneScape gold doesn't hold any value in meatspace, "property should be construed as capable of applying to any thing which can as a matter of normal use of language be described as capable of being stolen, unless there are good reasons why such a thing should be excepted." Because gold is bought and sold both in the game and outside of it, it "may clearly be the subject of dishonest dealing."

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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