The game was launched in the month of April and even the Early Access version proved this formula is popular with RPG enthusiasts, having been downloaded more than 600,000 times through Steam and the two major smartphone app stores with RuneScape Gold. This was far beyond the initial goals of Malcolm when he first began. Naturally, he wanted to ensure that his strategy would succeed but the game didn't have an "endgame that he was thinking of.

"Luckily the passion that fuelled these early days have stayed with me through the years of work. Being the only person to collaborate with Jagex to directly tackle this project is an amazing opportunity," he says. "I didn't think I'd ever get support from the same studio which inspired me in the first place.

Making the jump from hobbyist to fan project was certainly scary However, when you look at my current situation, and the assistance I've received since establishing Games by Malcs as an emerging studio, it's surely worked out for the most successful."

Despite the close ties between Melvor Idle and RuneScape, and the direct involvement of Jagex The publisher decided to maintain the game as an original IP and not to make it an officially-licensed RuneScape spin-off. In part, this was recognition of the fact Malcolm had achieved in a place that Jagex was unable to do so.

"We have actually thought about creating an idle RuneScape game a few years ago in the form of RuneScape: Idle Adventures," Pfeiffer elaborates. "In Alpha, we stopped development to focus our efforts on the main RuneScape games.

We have always believed RuneScape's potential in the area of idle games and Melvor Idle is a great proof that RuneScape is a game that can help you create an amazing idle game. However, Melvor Idle stands up on its own merits as well and we wanted to remain true to the vision for this game Brendan first began designing the game."

Pfeiffer also mentions the popularity of Melvor Idle to show that talent can emerge from the community of any game which is something Jagex has already seen. "We've always discovered the RuneScape community to be an excellent source of talent for Jagex not just the realm of game developers but all the different roles in a games studio," he says. "RuneScape has had almost 300million accounts created in the last 20 years, which means the number of highly skilled people that have played the game is enormous."

After the success of the partnership in the past with Games By Malcs with Buy RuneScape Gold, Pfeiffer says he's looking forward to working more collaboration with indie developers across the world , particularly if they're developing project that "align with RuneScape's design philosophy and Jagex's core values" and is hoping Melvor Idle's successes will spur more independents to reach out to the studio.