ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 3 is in active development with the upcoming MMO set to start beta tests in 2027. Launching in a wildly different market than prior entries, studio head Colin Johanson explained that the new MMORPG will have no pay-to-win, subscription fees, or any guff that makes the game feel like a “second job”.
Earlier this month, ArenaNet already confirmed that the upcoming game would not feature any kind of battle pass that have become prevalent in other MMOs these days. Johanson explained that these systems only serve to hold players’ “time hostage”, which Guild Wars 3 doesn’t want to do.
In a new statement, Johanson explained that the modern MMO has become more like a “second job” than a game. “Players today have more choices than ever,” he said. “And so many modern game experiences allow players to quickly and meaningfully get a return on their time investment in the game without significant barriers or preparing to have fun”.
The Guild Wars 3 lead explained that this means the MMO can’t just have a bunch of content. Instead, the team’s job is to make sure that everything available in the game “feels meanignful” and respects the players’ time. With that in mind, Johanson explained that “player expectations have changed” since the second game which is why the sequel exists in the first place.
“Technology has evolved,” he said. “The ways people engage with online worlds are broader and more varied. The lines between an MMO and a live-service game have blurred. The amount of time players have to dedicate to a single game has decreased as their library of games has continued to grow.”
Johanson explained that the goal for Guild Wars 3 is to make the game feel more meaningful than its peers. That means retaining the buy-to-play model of its predecessors with no subscription fees, no battle passes, and allowing players to “play it on their own terms”.
“That model matters because it puts players in control,” he said. “Our goal is for players to feel like their time in the game is something they choose, not something they owe. Want to take a break and go play other games? Great, go for it! (We’d recommend trying out Guild Wars Reforged and Guild Wars 2; we hear they’re awesome.) Ready to come back when the next Guild Wars 3 expansion comes out? Wonderful, we’ll be here waiting for you.”
With that said, it’s still quite vague what the actual gameplay changes of Guild Wars 3 will be. Johanson explains that the goal is to “move the genre forward”, highlighting that fans have said the MMO format “desperately needs innovation and evolution”. Guild Wars 3 “will be its own kind of game” that “lands near the middle of the MMO spectrum”, whatever that actually means.
Johanson admits that ArenaNet is being “broad and vague” with the MMO right now, but hopes that everything becomes clearer closer to the game’s beta this in Fall 2027.
