Guild Wars 2 cuts the price of combat - ArenaNet remove paid PvP

Today marks the release of Guild Wars 2's much-teased second Flame & Frost update, The Gathering Storm. The patch not only adds guild missions , a new PvP map and a continuation of the game's Living Story , but also brings a change to paid PvP tournaments. Specifically, it removes them, instead relying on a more robust matchmaking system that will govern the remaining free tournaments.

"One of the reasons we initially introduced Paid Tournaments was to create a place for hyper-competitive, highly skilled players to find matches with other players of comparable skill, leaving the Free Tournament system available for more casual competitive play," explains ArenaNet's Tyler Bearce. Now that the matchmaking system can accurately place players of a similar skill level, that paid tier is no longer necessary.

After the update, 1-round and 3-round free tournaments will be available, each with a separate matchmaking rank.

Bearce notes that any remaining Tournament Tickets can now be exchanged for Gold, Silver or Copper reward chests at the Ticket Merchant NPC, next to the Tournament Master in Heart of the Mists.

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.