Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2
Developer(s)	ArenaNet
Publisher(s)	WW: ArenaNet WW: NCSoft CN: Tencent Games CN: Kongzhong (formerly)
Director(s)	Colin Johanson (2012–2016, 2021) Mike O'Brien (2016–2019) Mike Zadorojny (2019) John Taylor (2019–2021) Joshua Davis (2021–present)
Producer(s)	Amy Liu (2022–present)
Designer(s)	Colin Johanson Eric Flannum
Artist(s)	Daniel Dociu Kekai Kotaki
Writer(s)	Ree Soesbee Jeff Grubb Bobby Stein Tom Abernathy
Composer(s)	Jeremy Soule Maclaine Diemer Lena Raine Stan LePard
Series	Guild Wars
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	August 28, 2012[1] August 23, 2022 (Steam)
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Guild Wars 2 is a free-to-play,^[2] massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedicated to fighting Elder Dragons, colossal Lovecraftian-esque entities that have seized control of Tyria in the time since the original Guild Wars (2005), a plot line that concludes in the third expansion End of Dragons (2023). The game takes place in a persistent world with a story that progresses in instanced environments.^[3]

Guild Wars 2 is the fourth major entry in the Guild Wars series, and claims to be unique in the MMO genre^[4] by featuring a storyline that is responsive to player actions,^[5] something which is common in single player role-playing games but rarely seen in multiplayer ones. A dynamic event system replaces traditional questing,^[6] utilising the ripple effect to allow players to approach quests in different ways as part of a persistent world. Also of note is the combat system, which aims to be more dynamic than its predecessor by promoting synergy between professions and using the environment as a weapon,^[7][8] as well as reducing the complexity of the Magic-style skill system of the original game.

As a sequel to Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 features the same lack of subscription fees that distinguished its predecessor from other commercially developed online games of the time, though until August 2015 a purchase was still required to install the game.^[9] The game sold over two million copies in its first two weeks.^[10][11] By August 2013, the peak player concurrency had reached 460,000.^[12] By August 2015, over 5 million copies had been sold, at which point the base game became free-to-play.^[13] By August 2021, over 16 million accounts have been created.^[14] On 16 August 2022, it was announced that Guild Wars 2 will be releasing on Steam as part of the game's 10th year anniversary celebration.^[15]

Four major expansion packs have been released for the game thus far; Heart of Thorns (2015), Path of Fire (2017), End of Dragons (2022), and Secrets of the Obscure (2023). A fifth expansion pack, Janthir Wilds (2024) is set to release on August 20, 2024,^[16] and sixth expansion pack is in development, slated for 2025.^[17][18] Each expansion pack introduces new content, including new regions of the world to explore, end-game encounters and masteries, with the first three also offering new professions, elite specializations, and seasons of 'Living World'; live content updates that continue expansion storylines and bridge the gap between them.^[19] In February 2023, it was announced that future Guild Wars 2 expansions starting with Secrets of the Obscure would be adopting a new release model. Instead of releasing every two to four years with a season of Living World in between, smaller scale expansions would be released more frequently at a slightly reduced price. Additional content for these expansions will then be added through quarterly releases.^[20]