On April 28, 2025, Guild Wars will celebrate its 20th birthday. However, the festivities start now. With a new collection, the largest discount in the history of the game, and a … hold on … content update.
What is ArenaNet planning for Guild Wars? The 20-year-old MMORPG will receive the new “Guild Wars: The 20th Anniversary Masterpiece Collection” to celebrate the anniversary, which includes the three campaigns Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall, as well as the expansion Eye of the North and the bonus mission pack.
In the official ArenaNet store (via guildwars2.com), the collection is set to launch immediately at an 80 percent discount – the developers promise it will be the biggest discount ever offered for the venerable Guild Wars.
The trailer for the Eye of the North expansion of Guild Wars:
A nice surprise: In celebration of the anniversary, the 20-year-old game will receive one more content update. The new features include:
- High-ranking enemies can drop many of the promotional items as rare loot, which were previously only available as pre-order bonuses or as regional bonuses in the mid-2000s.
- A selection of limited-time minis will be added to the game as non-tradable items, which you can receive from Merrise at the departure beach as part of the in-game party. The anniversary will be celebrated in Guild Wars until May 6, 2025.
- Additionally, you can now receive weapon upgrades for main-hand weapons that can increase a class’s main attribute up to 5 – even if you normally do not have access to that attribute. This is intended to provide your characters with new build possibilities. Plus: The modifiers leave stylish glow streaks on the weapons.
A Journey Back to MMORPG History
Is Guild Wars still worth it? It is certain that the first Guild Wars still has many fans who fondly remember the predecessor of Guild Wars 2. This was demonstrated last year by the strong result of the MMORPG oldie in our poll on the best online role-playing games of all time: Guild Wars ranked 6th.
But this also hints at the positive rating on Steam for the entire trilogy, which stands at 90 percent positive. Highlights of the game include the diversely designed game world, the catchy music pieces, as well as the class system. Oh, and of course the titular guild wars.
However, it must also be said that Guild Wars has long ceased to draw large numbers of players to the servers. During peak times, there are often about 200 to 300 Steam users online at the same time (via steamcharts.com).
By the way, there was also a nice message from the ArenaNet team on the 19th anniversary of Guild Wars, which had to do with “part-time janitor” Stephen Clarke-Wilson. He was unexpectedly promoted, more on this here: A beloved MMORPG has been dormant for 11 years, receiving more work hours and a new boss
