[UPDATE 2 - June 8, 2026] It's official: ArenaNet announced Guild Wars 3 at the Summer Game Fest 2026. They also revealed that it will be available on PC and PlayStation 5, with the initial beta expected in Fall 2027.
[UPDATE] Fellow South Korean website Inven actually transcribed the whole investor (as spotted by MassivelyOP) meeting and, as it turns out, Acting Chairman Park Byeong-moo specifically mentioned Guild Wars 3. So, it's official now.
ArenaNet has a meaningful IP called ‘Guild Wars’, and after Guild Wars 2, they are currently working on ‘Guild Wars 3’. Looking at this process, we have considerable competitiveness. Although it is not completely profitable, I believe that it has increased its competitiveness.
[ORIGINAL STORY] South Korean financial website Money Today reports that Guild Wars 3 recently received the green light from ArenaNet parent company NCSoft, which assessed in-house development resources and reviewed business feasibility.
It is unclear from the report whether development is literally just starting or whether actual production is now commencing. Despite some layoffs that took place in 2019, ArenaNet has been working on a new project for some time. In 2022, the developer was openly hiring for an unannounced triple-A game in pre-production, based on an 'established fantasy online IP' and to be made with Unreal Engine 5. Unless ArenaNet suddenly decided to license some other fantasy franchise, the most likely answer is they were already referring to Guild Wars 3.
The job ad also featured a decent overview of what the game might be like:
We have a bold vision for breaking free of certain vicious cycles inherent to content creation. Our studio strives to build both breathtaking narratives and a deeply interactive world. In this role, you will be building the pillars of our multiplayer storytelling experience, such as interactions, conversations, scenes, dynamic spawning, and emergent objectives.
It sounds a lot like the evolution of Guild Wars 2's dynamic events. It's been twelve years since ArenaNet tried to innovate the MMORPG genre with the release of its second game, and certainly, today's technology could push that vision even further.
Even if Guild Wars 3 is now entering production, it may well be four or five years before it gets to the market. Thankfully, fans of the franchise can also look forward to ArenaNet continuously expanding the current live MMORPG. The latest free update, titled The Realm of Dreams, was released last month; another is slated in the coming months, ahead of a full-fledged new expansion coming later in 2024. In an interview with Wccftech, the studio hinted at a major PvE endgame feature coming with the next expansion:
I think fans will be pretty stoked when they hear about our plans for endgame PvE content in our next expansion!
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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