ArenaNet’s latest Studio Update is packed with news. The studio aims for a Steam release of Guild Wars 2 in 2022, the re-release of Living World Season 1 and, of course, the announcement of the 4th Guild Wars 2 expansion.
The bright future of Guild Wars 2
After a successful launch of End of Dragons, ArenaNet decided to flood Guild Wars 2 players with more exciting news and features. JT and Colin Johanson, the leadership at ArenaNet, kick the Studio Update off with a thank you to the team at ArenaNet and the players. The studio is beyond excitement to develop a new story arc after the Dragons storyline has concluded.
…we’re happy to say loudly and emphatically that Guild Wars 2 has a bright future ahead of it!
JT & Colin Johanson (ArenaNet)
The update continues with a short introduction of two people that will play a key role in the future development of Guild Wars 2.
First, Amy Liu, the Executive Producer. Amy has a long track record at ArenaNet and NCsoft. She started as gamemaster at NCsoft and joined the Guild Wars 2 team for its launch in 2012.
Amy Liu is our Executive Producer. She’s responsible for the “how” and “when” of Guild Wars 2 development
JT & Colin Johanson (ArenaNet)
Second, Josh “Grouch” Davis, the new Game Director of Guild Wars 2. Grouch is a prominent figure in the Guild Wars 2 community. He is well-known for interacting with players and streamers about Guild Wars 2 and its development.
I honestly think that Grouch is the perfect fit for this role!
Josh “Grouch” Davis is taking on the role of Game Director. He’s responsible for the “what” and “why” of Guild Wars 2 development
JT & Colin Johanson (ArenaNet)
Guild Wars 2’s player count in 2022
Although there are no official numbers of Guild Wars 2’s player count for many years now, the studio mentions that the number of Guild Wars 2 players has more than doubled over the last three years. According to Arenanet, this growth contributed to the End of Dragons (2022) expansion outselling the Path of Fire (2017) expansion.
Although this still does not give us much insight about the current player count of Guild Wars 2. It seems that the community is growing, healthy and thriving in terms of player numbers. And also, it shows in expansion sales. Great news for ArenaNet and Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2’s Steam Release
Many players anticipated Guild Wars 2’s Steam release in 2020. However, it is still not playable through this platform. The global crisis and the development of the latest expansion made sure that Guild Wars 2’s Steam release still hasn’t seen the light of day.
However, in the march 2022 studio update, the studio announces that they’re aiming to release Guild Wars 2 on Steam before the end of 2022. Along with the Steam release, older areas and the early game experience are getting polished to give new players a better experience in the game. This is great because many of these areas, stories and activities haven’t been touched or polished since 2012.
Living World Season 1 re-release
I never thought the re-release of Living World Season 1 would happen. Most of these stories date back to 2013 and 2014 but were removed from the game and haven’t been re-implemented ever since. Living World Season 1 was a crucial part of the Dragon Storyline that was concluded in the End of Dragons expansion.
Many new players that got invested into Guild Wars 2 were missing a big chunk of the story. Between the core game (2012) and Living World Season 2 (2014/2015) there is a gap in the story, which is Living World Season 1. I’m glad that (most) content is making its return!
Can’t wait to learn more about Living World Season 1? You can listen to the Guild Wars 2 content creator Wooden Potatoes telling you the entire story and its events!
World vs. World
The improvements to World vs. World (WvW) are still in development. The most anticipated feature, the Alliance system or the World Restructuring System, is still in phase one of development. This system was thoroughly tested by developers and players in an Open Beta event. However, the system had more hiccups than expected and was unfortunately postponed until after the End of Dragons expansion.
Also, the developers are working on ways to make World vs. World more rewarding for individuals by increasing the speed a reward track is completed.
Want to know more about the upcoming changes to World vs. World? Check out the video below explaining the upcoming changes.
Profession Updates
The developers are closely monitoring the performance of the new Elite Specializations of the End of Dragons expansion. These new Elite Specializations should allow for engaging and varied play styles across all gamemodes. After monitoring this for the next few months, ArenaNet will make changes accordingly.
The first major PvP and WvW balance changes are on March 29, 2022. And the first major profession update will release on June 28, 2022.
The Spring 2022 Roadmap
ArenaNet provided a roadmap with the major points that will release over the next three months.
- March 15 — End of Dragons Polish Build
- March 29 — Super Adventure Festival, End of Dragons Polish Build
- April 19 — Living World Season 1 Episode 1, Aetherblade Hideout Challenge Mode
- May 10 — Xunlai Jade Junkyard Challenge Mode
- May 24 — Living World Season 1 Episode 2, Kaineng Overlook Challenge Mode, New Legendary Weapon Variant
- June 7 — Dragon Bash Festival, Harvest Temple Challenge Mode
- June 28 — Balance Update, New Legendary Weapon Variant
ArenaNet studio update: The future of #GuildWars2 https://t.co/Q28fMYiFmi pic.twitter.com/hYXBAKmZuF
— Guild Wars 2 (@GuildWars2) March 22, 2022
Final Thoughts
ArenaNet went all out in this studio update. Just a month after the release of End of Dragons, the studio floods us with more exciting updates and features. The game had some content droughts in the past but that seems to be over now. The future of Guild Wars 2 looks bright. Very bright.
What do you think about these features?
