Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns release date announced

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ArenaNet has announced that the Guild Wars 2 expansion Heart of Thorns will be out on October 23. The expansion will be released as a "buy-to-play experience," with no further subscription fees once purchased—because, in case you missed it, Guild Wars 2 is now free.

We spoke with Guild Wars 2 Game Director Colin Johanson about raids and how ArenaNet plans to adopt them to suit the game's competitive PvP model. "I think we actually have a really great advantage here in that I think the combat system is one of the most unique parts of Guild Wars 2," he told us. "Our raids take all the things that our combat system offers, brings them all together, and asks you to use all of those abilities together to defeat everything." Read the full interview right here.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.