John: Our goal is to create a fantastic game, support it, support the community, listen to them, and foster growth. The same goes for our efforts in PvP and competition. Over the past three years, we have built and grown the competitive PvP of Guild Wars 2 and have seen more and more successes. Every step has been a natural extension of the previous one.
The addition of a pro league, where we offer the highest prize pools to date and which promises our biggest PvP events so far, broadens our supply of potential players of younger ages and with no restrictions regarding regions – thanks to ESL. Our own in-game competitive pro league and the Guild Challenger League show as many players as possible a path into the pro ranks – all part of the next natural step for our game and our community. Our focus is to do what is right for the growth of Guild Wars 2 overall. We believe these steps we are taking with PvP are the next and best steps for our game.
“I hope the maximum we can achieve with Guild Wars 2 will be very high”
Some of the biggest competitive games today, particularly a larger number of MOBA titles, started from small roots to achieve the success they have today. With the ongoing growth we see in our PvP scene, we are not recognizing this as reducing or that this growth will stop anytime soon. We really don’t know how big we can get, we can only focus on supporting the ongoing growth in our game and our community.
I hope the maximum we can achieve with Guild Wars 2 will be very high. I believe what pleases us the most is that we simply see no end to our growth and we can’t wait to see where the Guild Wars 2 Pro League will take us.
[pullquote]Guild Wars 2 appeals to many people through its diversity. We are not a purely competitive game.[/pullquote]Steve: Guild Wars 2 appeals to many people through its diversity. We are not a purely competitive game. Some players do nothing but play RPG, and they do that together in the cities. Others run through dungeons or explore the world. Currently, Twitch is dominated by eSports-focused games, and what these games have in common is that they all essentially offer a single game type. 100% of players of LoL or DotA 2 play the same game mode as the pro gamers. But this is not the case with our game.
PvP is just one segment; Guild Wars 2’s success is not dependent on it
I think there will be more diversity among player types as it becomes more accepted that it is a form of passive entertainment to watch others play. Until that happens, the eSports-focused titles will dominate on Twitch. We are not bound by Twitch viewers for our success. Likewise, we are not bound to PvP to see how successful Guild Wars 2 is. We are fortunate that we have many different types of players in Guild Wars 2, and PvP is just one segment of that.
eSports-focused titles have it easier
Steve: I think that it’s easier to fall into eSports when games focus 100% on that game mechanic. Therefore, I think it’s harder for new players to get into the PvP of Guild Wars 2 – simply because our game is too large. I also believe that our previous price was another barrier. The base game Guild Wars 2 has been free since August 29, and since then we have been experiencing an influx of new players. As a direct result, our PvP side is now more accessible to players who are used to other free-to-play games.
John: For newcomers interested in the pro league, the Guild Challenger League is key. Anyone who wants to try their hand at the pro league can assemble a guild team and play as a team in the PvP leagues. This leads to the ELO-based leaderboard for the season. After the season’s finals, teams at the bottom of the Guild Challenger leaderboard must compete in the Guild Challenger Cup. This is a relegation tournament where the top teams of the tournament join the pro league. This gives all players an insightful path to catch up to the pros and compete at that level.
Another significant advantage of the partnership with ESL is that we can lower the entry age and lift the regional restrictions for our high-end competitions. Anyone who believes their team has what it takes to compete at the top can download the game for free, train, compete with others, and then seize the opportunity to participate in the Guild Wars 2 Pro League.
Read on if you want to know why it is so important for ArenaNet to engage in eSports and what challenges they face.
