Guild Wars 2 marketing and release date speculated

When it comes to Guild Wars 2, you could say the folks at Massively are a bit excited about the game. You could also say we're a bit of a MMORPG news and features site, as well. The problem is that there just hasn't been much information to discuss about the sequel. Well, as it turns out, Kill Ten Rats has a little bit of meat for us to chew on -- but only a little.

In a conference call held in early November, it turns out there was some discussion about Aion. How is this pertinent to Guild Wars 2? Well, it seems that NCsoft is quite pleased with the marketed generated through buzz and online viral videos for the game. As of right now, the game is having an enormously popular Korean beta. So, the reasoning goes then that they'd like to see this approach taken with Guild Wars 2, as it saves NCsoft money -- something they apparently need a lot of right now -- and created plenty of awareness.

As for a release date, after being pestered by an uninhibited analyst about said date, NCsoft was willing to admit their interest in a holiday 2009 launch. The intriguing part of this whole shebang is that there appear to be "options" for the game's release, and the analysts aren't too pleased with the inevitable decline in Guild Wars' business. So, could we see the game earlier than next winter? Maybe next summer? Possibly, just possibly.