Guild Wars 2: Queen's Jubilee update brings hot air balloons and bonus dungeon rewards

The citizens of Tyria are always celebrating. Dragons being jerks? Throw a party . Skyship shows up? Break out the bunting . Computer games are invented? Well, that one's understandable . Guild Wars 2's next update will centre around a more obvious cause for a shindig - if you're a royalist at least. Queen's Jubilee marks the ten year anniversary of Divinity Reach'zzzz... Sorry, I started to fall asleep there, halfway through that lore heavy sentence. Maybe the planned events, rewards and updates will prove more interesting.

Those events, rewards and updates include: Hot air balloons! Okay, ArenaNet, now you have my attention. The balloons will supposedly transport players from the open world to the human city of Divinity's Reach. Hopefully it's a scenic approach - else the existence of Waypoints will render the trip a bit pointless. Also being added are a beacon lighting race, and a "Gauntlet" arena, pitting players against increasingly difficult bosses.

Perhaps more notable for this update are the fixes and improvements. Wallets are expanding to fit all types of currency - from Badges of Hono(u)r to dungeon tokens - which should save precious inventory/bank space. Dungeons will give bonus money for running explorable paths each day. Also, a PvP solo queue will ensure you don't clash against an existing party, and Champion loot drops will provide a chance for rare crafting materials from the game's tougher open world enemies.

Queen's Jubilee will arrive August 6th. You can find more details on the Guild Wars 2 update page .

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.