Guild Wars 2 out later this year, beta expanding in spring

The first closed beta phase for Guild Wars 2 has ended, according to a new post on the ArenaNet blog . The team are now ready to "aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events" from March onwards ahead of a full release later this year.

The closed beta went live for a small selection of players mid-December. Back then ArenaNet said that the feedback from testing would "determine the next phases of our beta program." It must have gone well if the devs have announced those plans just five weeks later.

Access to the Guild Wars 2 beta will be an extremely hot ticket for players looking for a fresh take on the MMO. We'll have to wait and see just how different Guild Wars 2 really is, but who wouldn't want to play as a giant lion man and wander around some of GW2's extraordinary areas . Roll on March! Are you excited about Guild Wars 2?

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.