On the official website of ArenaNet, several job listings can be found for an “unannounced project.” What are the developers of Guild Wars 2 working on?
What are these job listings? If you currently go to boards.greenhouse.io, you will find five positions that ArenaNet wants to fill for an “unannounced project”:
- Lead Concept Artist
- Lead Technical Artist
- Senior Technical Artist – Rigging
- UI Art Lead
- Senior Brand Manager
In the job descriptions, there is talk of an AAA game that is to be developed in Unreal Engine 5.
A few weeks ago, Guild Wars 2 received the new expansion Janthir Wilds – here is the trailer:
Will Guild Wars 3 be a sandbox MMORPG?
Is that all the information about the new project? According to several sources (such as mmobomb.com and mmorpg.org.pl), there was another open position in the job center for a “Principal Sandbox Designer” for a short time, who is supposed to have a deep understanding of long-lasting projects like live-service games, MMORPGs, or early-access titles.
Whether this position has already been filled or if the responsible parties took it offline due to the subsequent speculations is currently unclear.
What about Guild Wars 3? It is certain that ArenaNet is currently managing Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 and supposedly working on Guild Wars 3 according to NCSoft. However, this information was not given during an official announcement, but rather during an investors’ conference. So it could well be that the currently “unannounced project” is Guild Wars 3.
The alternative would be that ArenaNet is currently working on two AAA projects in parallel and simultaneously managing both Guild Wars games. That would be a massive task for a developer with just over 300 employees (via wikipedia.org). It’s also possible that Guild Wars 3 has now been shelved again, but surely no one hopes for that.
Assuming that Guild Wars 3 is the unannounced project, the question remains why ArenaNet is looking for a sandbox expert for the MMORPG. Is the series supposed to reinvent itself again and take a sandbox direction? Guild Wars 2 was already a very different game than its predecessor.
The first Guild Wars is still live:
What does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz think? I find it unlikely that ArenaNet can handle two AAA developments in parallel while also specifically managing Guild Wars 2.
When NCSoft confirmed the work on Guild Wars 3, the MMORPG was still in the early “Development Review” stage. Moreover, ArenaNet refused at the time to confirm the publisher’s announcement.
For this reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if ArenaNet continues to refer to the already confirmed Guild Wars 3 as an “unannounced project” for quite some time. It would also not surprise me if they took a slightly different, “sandboxier” path with GW3 than before.
With Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, this philosophy has already proven successful. Both games are still online today because they offer two different player experiences. What they do not need is an MMORPG that completely replaces the second part. Instead, they will strive to create a complementary, alternative player experience for Tyria.
I wouldn’t get too hung up on the sandbox term, as it can mean everything and nothing. Furthermore, there is not just sandbox and theme park, but also an infinite amount of variance in between. Or how do you see it? By the way, I personally hope that GW3 really comes: Guild Wars 3 has been announced and my wife dances in circles with joy
