Guild Wars 2 completely changes release schedule for the future

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The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 has announced its plans for the next few years. Instead of major expansions every 2 to 4 years, they now want to rely on a concept similar to that of ESO. There should be an update every quarter, supplemented with regular small add-ons.

What is Guild Wars 2 planning for the future? According to their own statements, the developers have found that their current concept for the MMORPG is not working. Too much of the team is involved in the completion of a new expansion, leaving the rest of the content development behind and creating gaps.

That’s why there will be major adjustments from 2023:

  • Guild Wars 2 is scheduled to get a major update once a quarter.
  • These quarterly updates are supplemented by regular, but somewhat smaller extensions.
  • An expansion aims to tell a coherent story that will be continued through the quarterly updates. At the end of the story, the next expansion is in the starting blocks – which, by the way, should cost less than the previous addons (29.99 euros).

    • An expansion should always start with two new maps in the open world, two attack missions, new masteries and new game experiences. More maps, more story content, challenge modes for the assault missions, and new fractals will be added in subsequent quarterly updates.

    We will see the first of these quarterly updates on February 28th. There the story of the latest expansion End of Dragons will be told, which was a great success for Guild Wars 2. The highlight is the new area, which will be expanded over time and enriched with meta-events and boss fights.

    Guild Wars 2: Everything you need to know about the new expansion End of Dragons in under 3 minutes

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    What else will happen in 2023? In addition to the big quarterly update, the developers are planning further patches for Guild Wars 2:

  • On February 14th, an update will be released with adjustments to class balance and rewards in WvW.
  • On March 28, the Super Adventure Box regular event returns.
  • On April 18th, the upgrade to DX11 will be completed.
  • On May 2nd there will be the next balance update.

    • For the first half of 2023, a new legendary weapon set in the style of the Soo-Won weapons and a new fractal with a challenge mode are also planned.

    Is Guild Wars 2 still worth starting in 2023?

    Guild Wars 2 will be based on a system reminiscent of ESO

    What does this rhythm remind you of? The structure sounds similar to the current model from The Elder Scrolls Online, but not pressed into such a tight corset. ESO currently releases an expansion every summer and always relies on two dungeon DLCs.

    For ESO, this concept initially worked well, but criticism accumulated that the rigid rhythm was too predictable and the new expansions were too small overall. Therefore, in 2023, it was decided to break this cycle and make adjustments, including a complete overhaul of the 4th DLC.

    However, there are two major differences between ESO and Guild Wars 2:

  • The developers of GW2 leave open exactly how many quarterly updates there are between two expansions.
  • These updates in between are free in GW2, while with ESO you can either pay real money or need the ESO+ subscription. In addition, the GW2 extensions should be cheaper. Players expect 15 to 25 euros instead of the 39.99 euros at ESO.

    • We’ll see in the coming months and years whether the concept of Guild Wars 2 works or whether it leads to similar problems as with ESO. What do you think about that? Feel free to write it in the comments.

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