Guild Wars 2 confirmed for 2012, public beta coming [Updated]

ArenaNet founder and president Mike O'Brien rocked the Guild Wars 2 community very early this morning with a blog post celebrating 2012 as the year of the dragon and the official launch year for Guild Wars 2.

Guild Wars 2 recently finished up a very small closed beta test, and now ArenaNet is planning to start opening the testing doors wider very quickly: "In February we'll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we'll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate."

This all leads up to the event fans have been eagerly awaiting on the edge of their seats: a 2012 launch for Guild Wars 2, according to O'Brien. He wrapped up the blog post with words guaranteed to put a big smile on the face of every fan: "So welcome to the Year of the Dragon – the year of Guild Wars 2."

[Update: Martin Kerstein has further clarified ANet's plans on the GW2 Guru forums, reminding players that "public beta events" does not mean "unlimited open beta." He does say that at least some of these events will be in the form of weekend testing events.]

Reader Comments (107)

usually i hate mondays, but this just made my day :D

@Rum
They announced Mesmer!!!! Official day one purchase now.

@Rum
This just made my year!

Heck... made last year too for that matter.

@Rum

Aye, the only thing that could make this better is an announcement for the official start of pre-orders for the Regular and Collector Editions of the game.

I do, however, hope that this means the Closed Beta client was exceptionally stable and that is why they are moving into a more open Beta so quickly, and not because of the wee bit of annoying backlash seen from the "non-signup" CB or from investor pressure. Seeing how a few MMOs that have recently been released have had rather rock-steady betas and client performance, that first thing is what I'm obviously betting on.

@Rum

I guess this one will be my best Monday of the year (unless GW2 launches on a Monday, or I get Beta access on a Monday, both of which I really doubt :) .

Yay! *dances around desk*
Woohoo!

NOW

I might be hyped a bit, but this post put a huge smile on my face. YAAY

2012 sees the first next gen MMO, and things will never be the same again afterwards.

OMG !

Finally we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I cannot wait to pre order, and normally I don't go for collector's edition
but for Guild Wars...defo if there is one.

@kurosenshu

Ditto. I'm somewhat iffy on CEs as well (I view most of them as being pretty overpriced -- granted, this one might be as well, since they're not including the art-book, which is worth every penny). However, I'm most likely getting it simply because I like the devs and their ideas that much. Probably buying a copy for my other hardcore gamer relative as well, because he needs to be converted! XD

Here's to hoping it all goes well (not saying 'without a hitch', because that's pretty much impossible, especially with people's expectations).

@kurosenshu
If the CE includes extra character slots, then I will definitely be snagging a couple of them for me and the Mrs also.

@ArcherAvatar I work at Gamestop. The CE is 79.99 and I already pre-ordered it. It gives a ballpark release date of march. but it's rough and judging by this announcement it'll be later. But still. This is exciting :D

I think i speak for a lot of people when i say "FRIGGIN FINALLY!"

woohoo, finaly.

and...
woohoo, i became a father last month.

both together?
woohoo, urgent need for good time management. damn i wish i was back in school times. just for one two years, ok?

@takahami

"And that, son/daughter of mine, is how Jack killed the giant by managing his threat and keeping an eye on his DPS. He then climbed down the beanstalk to show off his shiny new gear and logged out happily ever after."

/Does full body jump at the door, /smushes face on the glass....

oh ya no sign up yet....

owww...

Wish my comp would play it. O well

@Doctalen

Arena Net have a reputation of trying really hard to make their games playable on even the most modest computers, so don't despair.

However, if you haven't upgraded your rig in the last 5 years... this is the best time to think about doing so.

Best of luck!

@Doctalen They've been testing the game using older, out-of-stock cards, just to make sure it'll run on an as wide a range of machines as possible.

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Guild Wars 2 confirmed for 2012, public beta coming [Updated]

Reader Comments (107)

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:12AM Rum said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 8:03AM Jimjamyaha said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 9:11AM ArcherAvatar said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 11:04AM DevilSei said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 1:44PM DarkWalker said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:14AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:15AM dudes said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:16AM hylax said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:24AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:30AM kurosenshu said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:35AM Rhodanum said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 9:15AM ArcherAvatar said

Posted: Jan 25th 2012 6:57PM BoundingDeer said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:34AM Floop the Squirrel said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:34AM takahami said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 8:24AM Issmir said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:40AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:41AM Doctalen said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 7:55AM zgomot said

Posted: Jan 23rd 2012 11:30AM Lenn said

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