Love at first fight at gamescom for Guild Wars 2 fans with All-Stars on the show floor, first-ever cash prize global tournament and new PvP features on the horizon
August 13, 2014
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
NCSOFT |
COLOGNE, GERMANY – August 13, 2014: ArenaNet, developer of the acclaimed Guild Wars franchise, today made a series of announcements at gamescom 2014 to showcase how it’s embracing the fast growing popularity of competitive game modes in Guild Wars 2®. The studio partnered with Twitch to run the International All-Stars Tournament on the show floor, a round robin PvP competition with live sessions taking place at the Twitch booth located at Hall 9 A053g. ArenaNet also unveiled the upcoming September 2014 Feature Pack, which in addition to a range of enhancements to the game will bring significant upgrades to Player vs. Player (PvP) and World vs. World (WvW), competitive modes that have seen a growing fan base since the game launched.
As a sign of how fast competitive game modes are growing, ArenaNet used gamescom to announce the World Tournament Series, the first ever global competition for Guild Wars 2 with cash prizes at stake. The studio is organizing the series in conjunction with KongZhong, the game’s publisher in China. The series will have invitational events in North America, Europe and China where players will compete for a $150,000 prize pool. All players who meet basic requirements such as being 18 years or older and having the ability to travel are eligible, meaning the future stars of Guild Wars 2 competitions lurk anywhere in the millions of fans who play the game on a regular basis.
Guild Wars 2 has set a new standard for delivering new content for a MMO through its TV-like Living World seasons, where players are the heroes in an ever-expanding storyline. At the same time, the game’s head-to-head PvP and WvW modes continue to attract a growing player base drawn to its fast and furious competitive combat. PvP provides players with arena-based combat rooted in action game mechanics. WvW elevates Guild Wars 2 into an entirely different realm, delivering massive strategy-based battles spanning across multiple maps, an experience resembling ancient warfare.
ArenaNet’s World Tournament Series represents the first worldwide event-based competition for the game. The first championship is set for late fall of 2014 in Beijing. Competitors will be chosen from top qualifying players in the upcoming Tournament of Glory launching on August 20. More information on the World Tournament Series structure and the Beijing event will be released in the coming weeks.
Outside of sanctioned battle arenas, fans of PvP and WvW are about to get serious upgrades in the September 2014 Feature Pack, which will be available to all players free of charge on September 9. While ArenaNet is unveiling competitive upgrades at gamescom, the Feature Pack contains much more than just new competitive features. Starting with this week’s reveals, the studio will unveil and detail each feature coming in the pack, with regular updates available at www.guildwars2.com.
ArenaNet game director Colin Johnason published a blog post on today’s announcements including the Feature Pack rollout, writing: “To kick things off, we’ll be focusing on new PvP and WvW updates. We’ve planned our Competitive Week to coincide with the Guild Wars 2 International All-Stars Tournament, which we’re streaming live from the show floor this week at gamescom in Cologne, Germany! Make sure to check out the streams later this week and watch as some of the best players from Europe, China, and North America battle it out for world supremacy.”
Not at gamescom? ArenaNet will be streaming the All-Stars Tournament matches live on the Guild Wars 2 Twitch channel (link: http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2) as well as updating the action through our Twitter page (link: https://twitter.com/guildwars2).
Johanson also updated Guild Wars 2 fans on the schedule of upcoming updates to the game, including Living World, writing in his blog, “Living World Season 2 will be going on break for a while as we count down to the arrival of the September 2014 Feature Pack. You can look forward to the return of Season 2 in autumn, and we’ll announce the start date for episode 5 after the feature pack has been released. Episode 4, ‘The Dragon’s Reach: Part 2,’ will remain active until episode 5 is released.”
About Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2® is a visually stunning MMO that offers players the epic grandeur of a massive role playing environment combined with innovative combat mechanics, dynamic events, and customized personal storytelling. Building on the success of Guild Wars, NCSOFT and game developer ArenaNet™ have created an MMO that lets gamers play the way they want, while at the same time retaining the no-subscription-fee business model that made the original Guild Wars so popular. For more details on Guild Wars 2 and its releases, please visit www.guildwars2.com.
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