Only last summer, the developers announced the Steam release of Guild Wars 2. However, that will not happen now. The reason given was the upcoming expansion, which requires their full focus. It also shows that ArenaNet needs to manage its resources well.
What happened? In line with the 8th anniversary of Guild Wars 2, the release of the MMORPG on Steam was announced. It is not uncommon for games to arrive on the platform years after the official release.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic did this at the beginning of the year and gained a new boost of players.
- The old MMORPG RuneScape also released on Steam this year.
But the Steam release of Guild Wars 2 will not happen for now. The developers stated in a new blog post that it has been “put on ice”. The reason given was the new expansion “End of Dragons”. This is set to be released in 2021 and should provide a quality that is “expected from a Guild Wars 2 expansion”.
This step further shows how much ArenaNet has to manage with the available resources.
Mass layoffs are still noticeable, new projects are not functioning
What is going on at ArenaNet? Since ArenaNet was founded in 2001, only two games have basically been released: Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2. However, the company has been working on new projects for years, all of which remain unannounced.
At least one of these projects has reportedly been canceled due to the mass layoffs in early 2019. At that time, over 100 people, approximately 1/4 of the total studio, had to leave, including some well-known developers who stated that they had indeed not worked on Guild Wars 2 anymore.
What is the current status? Now, nearly 1.5 years after the mass layoffs, there has been another restructuring, developers had to leave again and again it did not affect GW2.
However, these layoffs and the secret departure of former director Mike Zadorojny still cast a bad light on ArenaNet. They simply cannot manage to finish a new project.
Veterans are relieved about the postponement
What are the reactions to the Steam release? Some fans are disappointed that Guild Wars 2 will not appear on Steam. They saw it as an opportunity to attract new players to the MMORPG. Nevertheless, the general tone is positive, as veterans naturally want a comprehensive and strong expansion.
In addition, some criticize that the current state of the game is not good enough for a large wave of newcomers:
- Old content from Living World Season 1 is still missing
- There are lags and performance issues in Path of Fire and in the areas of the current Icebrood Saga.
- A major overhaul of the World vs World mode has still not been implemented despite the announcement in 2018.
Only once these issues have been addressed would many fans be happy about the Steam release.
Even though Guild Wars 2 will not be appearing on Steam, you should keep an eye on the MMORPG. The trailer for the new episode, slated for release in November, will be released on November 5th. Additionally, old voiceovers will be reintroduced.
You can find out more in the Guild Wars 2 roadmap until May 2021.
