With the twentieth anniversary of Guild Wars this 12 months, developer ArenaNet has ready a substantial visible and gameplay refresh of the 2005 MMORPG, which launched December 3.
In an unique reveal with IGN, we acquired a first have a look at Guild Wars Reforged, and discovered from ArenaNet sport director Stephen Clarke-Wilson, together with Brandon Dillon, CEO and co-founder of new studio 2weeks, what’s in retailer for the new and improved Guild Wars.
Co-developed by ArenaNet and 2weeks, which is made up of former ArenaNet creatives, Guild Wars Reforged is a modernized version of the authentic MMORPG and its expansions. The Reforged version options an HD overhaul that enhances the in-game visuals, efficiency, and consumer interface, together with correct controller help and full Steam Deck optimization. Moreover, the worth level might be lowered to $20 for the full package deal for newcomers, however might be a free replace for present house owners of the sport.
Talking with IGN, Stephen Clarke-Wilson, sport director of the authentic Guild Wars, spoke about the enduring reputation of the subscription-free MMORPG and why the builders needed to offer the authentic sport a refresh.
“Reforged means we have toughened it up!” stated the Guild Wars sport director. “There’s a sure appeal to the sport, and in addition to being an MMO and letting you play with pals, you may play solo, you may have henchmen, and you’ll play with anybody, anyplace in the world at any time. We have had 100% uptime [of new players] for the final over six years now, even with the modifications we have made, it is really easy to get into. It was a good time to offer it a refresh.”
Here is a fast rundown of the key options coming with Guild Wars Reforged:
- A free replace for all present Guild Wars gamers — together with free upgrades to expansions — and with a new $20 worth level for brand new gamers.
- HD visible replace with improved decision, together with enhanced ambient occlusion and bloom results.
- Official controller help by way of X-Enter.
- Accessibility choices for improved readability and gameplay, together with an non-obligatory goal information to help with world navigation.
- Steam Deck verified.
The unique Guild Wars marketing campaign was launched in 2005, and it was one of many MMORPGs launched in the wake of World of Warcraft’s breakout reputation. ArenaNet’s on-line sport discovered its personal success and a loyal following as a consequence of its being an MMORPG that allowed for a extra free-form strategy to exploration and did not require a subscription payment, which made the barrier to entry considerably simpler for gamers getting into a new sport world.
The Reforged version options a sweeping set of visible enhancements and gameplay tweaks. Nonetheless, the builders said that gameplay modifications are largely minor tweaks, permitting present gamers to seamlessly bounce into the up to date model, adjusting visible and UI enhancements as they see match.
In accordance with the builders, the Reforged version of Guild Wars started improvement in early 2025, with 2weeks working in tandem with ArenaNet. 2weeks CEO and co-founder Brandon Dillon said that the speedy turnaround for Guild Wars Reforged was as a consequence of the builders having expertise engaged on each Guild Wars 1 and a pair of, in addition to intensive entry to technical archives.
“It has been nice returning to [Guild Wars], and truthfully, ArenaNet had a actually robust engineering tradition proper from the starting, they usually’ve carried out an impeccable job sustaining the code base for the authentic sport,” Dillon stated. “Like once we confirmed again up, it was in a lot better situation than after I had left it 15 years in the past, and it was very nice returning to all of these programs and attending to work in it once more.”
Final April, the authentic Guild Wars hosted an anniversary occasion that introduced in a selection of veteran gamers and newcomers to the sport, highlighting the sustained reputation of the authentic. Nonetheless, in line with the builders throughout our interview, it additionally revealed areas for enchancment, akin to a crash bug that affected gamers operating the sport on 4K screens. The Reforged version will run the sport correctly on 4K shows.
One of the bigger motivators for the Reforged version of Guild Wars was to construct upon help for the sport on Steam Deck. The present model had compromises to get it operating. Nonetheless, with the Reforged version, the MMORPG might be Steam Deck verified and also will help full controller performance.
“It isn’t a remaster, however we have actually targeted on modernizing the expertise and reacting to the large inflow of new and returning gamers round the anniversary, and discovering all the limitations the sport had with trendy PCs,” Dillon defined. “As an example, the UI was actually tiny on tremendous excessive decision shows, as a result of we did not have something larger than 1024 by 768 in 2003. This was all about making certain that Reforged labored seamlessly with the trendy system whereas sustaining the core aesthetic and sweetness of the authentic sport. The largest chunk of work actually was constructing the proper consumer expertise on Steam Deck and supporting controllers, which was a deep and attention-grabbing downside, however actually rewarding to work on.”
Guild Wars Reforged arrives at a time when players have been displaying curiosity in revisiting traditional on-line video games. For the builders, revisiting the authentic Guild Wars for a sweeping replace allowed the group to rediscover a renewed appreciation for the sport and their expertise engaged on it.
“Guild Wars was a very nostalgic sport to play, nevertheless it was additionally a very nostalgic sport to come back again to, as a result of as we’re digging into these programs and updating issues and re-experiencing the content material,” stated Dillon.
“I used to be remembering all the wonderful builders on the mission, the programmers that I labored with who constructed these cool options that we had been adapting, and the artists and designers who simply constructed this implausible content material and these lovely worlds. It is an amazingly handcrafted and big expertise; it is variety of conceptually overwhelming to interact with. Nevertheless it’s in energetic improvement for years and years and years, and it is a particular factor that resonated with the group, and it has been rewarding on a number of ranges, to revisit all this craft of work.”
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.