Guild Wars 2 has been trying for some time to establish itself as an eSports title, including the Guild Wars 2 Pro League with the ESL. This has now been dissolved.
Guild Wars 2 is not actually an eSports candidate as an online role-playing game like MOBAs or (Hero) shooters such as League of Legends or Overwatch. Nevertheless, the developers at Arenanet always wanted to get into the big eSports business and even established their own Pro League in the ESL (Electronic Sports League), the world’s largest and oldest eSports company, at the end of 2015.
We had an exclusive interview on this topic here on Mein-MMO.
But now, the big eSports dreams are over, as ESL has terminated the Guild Wars 2 Pro League!
Guild Wars 2 eSports ESL Pro League – Everything will be over in a week
Via Twitter, the eSports organizer ESL announced that it will close the Guild Wars 2 section. This will be official next week; there will be two more cups before it ends. The ESL Pro League for Guild Wars 2 was an important part of Arenanet’s Guild Wars 2 World Championship. The ESL sponsored several tournaments and other events. It is unclear how professional Guild Wars 2 eSports will continue without the ESL.
According to most player comments in forums and on Twitter, the end of Guild Wars 2 at ESL is not surprising and has actually been long overdue.
Guild Wars 2 is simply not eSports material. It is indeed better suited for eSports than other MMORPGs, but still not at pro eSports level regarding PvP. This is partly due to unfavorable balance in relation to PvE and gameplay mechanics such as spammable CC effects.
An online role-playing game that has even made a name for itself as an eSports giant in the eSports wonderland of South Korea is NCSoft’s Blade & Soul, which plays more like a fighter than an MMORPG in PvP.
What do you think about the ESL ending of Guild Wars 2? Sad or actually long overdue? Let us know in the comments!
Also interesting: Guild Wars 2 – Wants to be eSports, has eSports problems
