With Visions of Eternity slowing coming to a close, Guild Wars 2 players were starting to worry about the future of the game. Even though many players were hoping for a new game in the franchise and everybody knew Arenanet has been working on something for years, the announcement of Guild Wars 3 at Summer Game Fest 2026 was still a very welcome surprise. I admit, I actually got a little emotional seeing the trailer and Colin doing the announcement on stage. I still remember buying Guild Wars (2005), waiting for and playing Guild Wars 2 (2012) and now.. We can look forward to the launch of Guild Wars 3!
The game will be set over a thousand years before the events of the original Guild Wars game, recently relaunched as Guild Wars Reforged. It’s good to know that Guild Wars 2 starts about 250 years after the events of Guild Wars Reforged. In Guild Wars 3 the gods have not yet left Tyria, which definitely makes it quite an interesting timeline. I was overjoyed to see the stitching on the banner form the human gods. We’ve heard so much about them, but have never actually seen them.
Players will become a Vaelwarden, a guardian of the land of Orr, protector of the people and spirits that call Orr home. In the trailer there is a strong focus on a one-of-kind movement system. I love the mount system in Guild Wars 2 and am very curious how we will be able to navigate in the new game.
The Future of Guild Wars
With Guild Wars 3 clearly on the horizon, what happens to Guild Wars Reforged and Guild Wars 2? I’m glad Arenanet didn’t wait too long to share their commitment to the Guild Wars franchise.
During a follow up livestream, Colin Johansson (Studio Head and Guild Wars 3 Game Director) and Josh Davis (Guild Wars 2 Game Director) informed players that Guild Wars 2 will not be getting an expansion this year. Instead they will be focusing on four major initiatives:
- New Hall of Monuments system for Guild Wars 2 to Guild Wars 3
- Polish the game
- New WvW Borderline Map
- New Open World Map in Orr
I’m totally ok with Guild Wars 2 taking a break from pushing out expansions. I’m very interested in the new Hall of Monuments system, I can’t wait to find how my progress in Guild Wars 2 translates to goodies for Guild Wars 3. I think it’s a great idea to polish te game. They even mentioned they want to change that Zhaitan fight, which a lot of players have been requesting.
I think people sometimes forget the game was released almost 14 years ago. I know I’m biased, but I think the game holds up pretty well. It would be amazing if the game can be polished and streamlined a bit more for players who want to return to the game or play it for the first time. If you do, don’t forget to join Basil The Wanderer on his journey through Tyria!
It will be interesting to see how Arenanet will manage three different Guild Wars games. I’m very curious to see the sync between the games. Even though I enjoyed Guild Wars in the past, I won’t be playing Reforged and plan on sticking to Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars 3. I’ve just finished the playthrough of Janthir Wilds last month and will be back in fall to dive into the Visions of Eternity expansion.
At this point in time I’m definitely hyped for the upcoming beta for Guild Wars 3, which is planned for Fall 2027 on PC and PlayStation 5. I’m not really interested in trying to predict what we will be seeing in the upcoming game, but I will be keeping a close eye on official news and updates. Of course I will share the most important updates and I hope to share my beta experiences with you next year.
You can check out more information about Guild Wars 3 and sign up for the beta at the official website over at www.guildwars3.com !