Bellevue, WASH., February 14, 2005 —ArenaNet, creators of the highly anticipated online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world"s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced that Guild Wars will be available at retail in North America and Europe on April 28, 2005. Players who preorder Guild Wars will be able to use their preorder access codes to start playing the full game on April 27, 2005.
According to EB Games, Guild Wars is one of the best-selling preorder PC games year-to-date in North America. More than 500,000 players have participated in public preview events in the US and Europe. In Korea, Guild Wars was named the number one most anticipated game of 2005 by The Electronic Times. ArenaNet has created a unique, global game world that invites players from around the world to play together seamlessly. There are no sharded servers, no language-specific versions of the game and nothing to keep players from exploring the game world with friends from other countries.
"Guild Wars has been a global game since we wrote the first line of code four years ago," Patrick Wyatt, ArenaNet co-founder said. "When Guild Wars launches in April players around the world will be able to experience the game together." Players who preorder Guild Wars also have access to exclusive monthly Beta Weekend Events that feature first looks at new gameplay elements, technological advancements and environments to explore. The schedule for the final three Beta Weekend Events follows:
- February 18–20, 2005
- March 18–20, 2005
- April 15–17, 2005