diff --git a/osu.Game/Rulesets/RealmRulesetStore.cs b/osu.Game/Rulesets/RealmRulesetStore.cs
index dba7f47f2f..590f118b68 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Rulesets/RealmRulesetStore.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Rulesets/RealmRulesetStore.cs
@@ -77,9 +77,16 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets
                             continue;
                         }
 
-                        var instanceInfo = (Activator.CreateInstance(resolvedType) as Ruleset)?.RulesetInfo
+                        var instance = (Activator.CreateInstance(resolvedType) as Ruleset);
+                        var instanceInfo = instance?.RulesetInfo
                                            ?? throw new RulesetLoadException(@"Instantiation failure");
 
+                        if (!checkRulesetUpToDate(instance))
+                        {
+                            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(instance.RulesetAPIVersionSupported),
+                                $"Ruleset API version is too old (was {instance.RulesetAPIVersionSupported}, expected {Ruleset.CURRENT_RULESET_API_VERSION})");
+                        }
+
                         // If a ruleset isn't up-to-date with the API, it could cause a crash at an arbitrary point of execution.
                         // To eagerly handle cases of missing implementations, enumerate all types here and mark as non-available on throw.
                         resolvedType.Assembly.GetTypes();
@@ -104,6 +111,25 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets
             });
         }
 
+        private bool checkRulesetUpToDate(Ruleset instance)
+        {
+            switch (instance.RulesetAPIVersionSupported)
+            {
+                // The default `virtual` implementation leaves the version string empty.
+                // Consider rulesets which haven't override the version as up-to-date for now.
+                // At some point (once ruleset devs add versioning), we'll probably want to disallow this for deployed builds.
+                case @"":
+                // Rulesets which are bundled with the game. Saves having to update their versions each bump.
+                case @"internal":
+                // Ruleset is up-to-date, all good.
+                case Ruleset.CURRENT_RULESET_API_VERSION:
+                    return true;
+
+                default:
+                    return false;
+            }
+        }
+
         private void testRulesetCompatibility(RulesetInfo rulesetInfo)
         {
             // do various operations to ensure that we are in a good state.