Guild Wars 2 Plans To Scrap Living World Seasons And Rework Its Update Cadence
2023 is going to be a very different year for Guild Wars 2 as ArenaNet announces its plans to move away from the traditional Living World episodic releases in favor of smaller but more regular content updates. According to Game Director Josh Davis, the end of the fantasy MMORPG’s long-running elder dragon saga has given the team a chance to reflect on what they’ve accomplished over the past few years and how they could have done it better.
As it turns out, the team’s focus on Living World seasons required time and resources that made it harder to develop expansions while also releasing regular content updates, which the team will be addressing this year.
“In the next phase of Guild Wars 2‘s development, we’re taking a more balanced approach that will allow us to provide more support for popular game modes, make frequent quality-of-life improvements to core gameplay systems like professions, deliver new features, and expand the world of Tyria with satisfying, immersive story updates,” Davis revealed. “Rather than launching an expansion every two to four years with a season of Living World in between, we’ll be releasing smaller expansions more frequently at a slightly reduced price and adding additional content for those expansions through quarterly updates, meaning that the next big release is only ever a few months away.”
“The first release in an expansion cycle is the launch point for a new story arc, bringing with it two new open-world maps, two Strike Missions, new gameplay and combat features, new Masteries, and new rewards,” the game director explains. “In the following quarterly updates, we’ll add another open-world map, additional story chapters, challenge modes for the Strike Missions, a new fractal dungeon and challenge mode, new rewards, and additions to the new systems introduced in that expansion. Once that expansion’s story is complete, the next expansion will be just around the corner.”
Players won’t have to wait long for “the next big release” either as the first one is set to arrive at the end of the month. The update will introduce a new End of Dragons map, new story content, and the Soo-Won legendary variant. Players can also look forward to the return of the Super Adventure Festival on March 28th.
Here's the first Studio Update of 2023! It's jam-packed with information about our plans for #GuildWars2, and how we develop and deliver new content and features, including our approach to expansions: https://t.co/XucDmLAjU8 pic.twitter.com/sQXBiFw0jV
— Guild Wars 2 (@GuildWars2) February 13, 2023
