Guild Wars 2 beta weekend: join the PC Gamer European community!

The first Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event for pre-purchase players begins tonight at 8pm GMT (12pm PDT). European players are cordially invited to join the PC Gamer community in exploring the game for the first time.

The weekend will give players a chance to try out the human, norn and charr starting areas. Having played all three, I'd recommend the charr: the humans have the most impressive opening sequence, but Guild Wars 2's cat people get a tech-fantasy metropolis built around an enormous iron ball, affectionately nicknamed the 'Death Charr' by the developers. Their leader is voiced by Steve Blum, better known for playing Grunt in Mass Effect. They're basically adorable furry krogan. Who fight ghosts.

You'll also get to give Guild Wars 2's World vs. World PvP a try - check out our recent video for a first-hand look, or last month's preview for more information.

Joining in 2011, Chris made his start with PC Gamer turning beautiful trees into magazines, first as a writer and later as deputy editor. Once PCG's reluctant MMO champion , his discovery of Dota 2 in 2012 led him to much darker, stranger places. In 2015, Chris became the editor of PC Gamer Pro, overseeing our online coverage of competitive gaming and esports. He left in 2017, and can be now found making games and recording the Crate & Crowbar podcast.