Everything We Know About Guild Wars 3 (Updated August 2026)
Guild Wars 3 is real: B2P, PC + PS5, beta fall 2027, set in ancient Orr. Every confirmed fact, dated and sourced, updated as ArenaNet reveals more.
Guild Wars 3 is real, it's a prequel, and you can't play it for at least another year. Here's every fact ArenaNet has actually put on the record since the June announcement — dated, sourced, and separated from the rumor pile. We update this page every time a new reveal lands.
The short version
- Announced: June 5, 2026, at Summer Game Fest, by Game Director and ArenaNet Studio Head Colin Johanson.
- Platforms: PC (standalone client + Steam) and PlayStation 5 — the first Guild Wars on a home console. No Mac, no Linux.
- Business model: buy-to-play. No subscription, no battle pass, no pay-to-win. ArenaNet has repeated this in writing more than once.
- First beta: fall 2027. Release date: not announced.
- Setting: ancient Orr, 1,000+ years before the original Guild Wars — before the Cataclysm sank it, while the Six Gods still walked Tyria.
- You play a Vaelwarden — a member of a god-sanctioned guild of artificers wielding magic signets.
- Four playable species at launch: humans, asura, kodan (playable for the first time), and one still unrevealed.
What is Guild Wars 3, exactly?
ArenaNet calls it "a modern evolution of the MMO": action-RPG combat built on positioning, momentum, and movement, married to the build-crafting the series is known for. The two concrete systems shown so far are a momentum-based movement kit — glide, slide, leap, sprint, ride — and the Seeker, a spirit-connected mount that's personal to each player. The studio has also said it's designing around small-group encounters rather than the zerg-scale content GW2 drifted into.
The engine is widely reported as Unreal Engine 5 — which would be a first for the franchise, since GW2 runs a proprietary engine — but ArenaNet hasn't printed those two words in any official post we've tracked. Treat it as reported, not confirmed.
The story so far (reveal timeline)
ArenaNet has held a roughly biweekly-to-weekly official cadence since the announcement. The full interactive version lives on our reveal timeline, but the trail so far:
- Jun 5 — Announcement at SGF + trailer, Steam/PSN pages live.
- Jun 10–11 — "Stepping into Ancient Orr" setting diary.
- Jun 15–16 — "Our Guild Wars Philosophy": B2P, no sub, no P2W.
- Jul 23 — "The Vaelwardens of the Orrian Golden Age" story diary.
- Jul 30 — Main theme reveal; Kazuma Jinnouchi leads the score.
- Aug 4–5 — "Our Approach to Playable Species": four at launch.
- Aug 13 — Species spotlight: humans.
Setting: Orr before it drowned
If your Guild Wars memory of Orr is Zhaitan's undead kingdom, invert it. GW3 is set during the Orrian golden age: the gods live in floating Arah, magic saturates the wilds, and there's almost no technology anywhere. Humans have been on Tyria for about 700 years at this point — Cantha, Elona, and Ascalon all already exist. The antagonist pressure comes from the Mavenwright guild, industrialists exploiting the magical wilds the Vaelwardens are sworn to protect. We break the whole era down in Ancient Orr, explained.
What about Guild Wars 2?
It keeps going. Visions of Eternity wraps in September 2026, followed by about a year of "foundations" work, and annual expansions resume after GW3 launches. ArenaNet has also committed to a GW2 open-world Orr map that bridges into GW3, and a new Hall of Monuments connecting your GW2 account to GW3 — the same trick the original Hall pulled between GW1 and GW2. Full comparison in GW3 vs GW2.
FAQ
Is Guild Wars 3 confirmed?
Yes. Officially announced June 5, 2026 at Summer Game Fest by ArenaNet and NCSoft, with store pages live on Steam and PSN.
When can I play Guild Wars 3?
The first beta is fall 2027. Newsletter signup at guildwars3.com gives you a shot at beta access. There is no release date.
Will Guild Wars 3 have a subscription?
No. Buy-to-play, no subscription, no battle pass, no pay-to-win — ArenaNet's own words, in writing, twice.
What platforms is Guild Wars 3 on?
PC (standalone and Steam) and PlayStation 5. No Xbox announced, no Mac/Linux.
Do I need to have played Guild Wars 1 or 2?
No — it's a prequel set a millennium before GW1. Your GW2 account will connect through a new Hall of Monuments, but the story starts fresh.
In this article
ArenaNet
The studio developing Guild Wars 3, a subsidiary of NCSoft.
Colin Johanson
Game Director on Guild Wars 3; signed the species dev diary.
Orr
Guild Wars 3's setting: the human kingdom of Orr, standing, centuries before the Cataclysm that drowned it.
Arah
The capital of Orr and the seat of the six gods' presence in the world.
The Vaelwardens
The guild the player character originates from — the framing device for Guild Wars 3's story.
Order of the Vael
Described by ArenaNet as the oldest guild in Orr.
Mavenwright
A name appearing in ArenaNet's Guild Wars 3 material; unexplained so far.
Seeker
A term appearing in ArenaNet's Guild Wars 3 material; its role is not yet defined publicly.
The Six Gods
The human pantheon — and, in Guild Wars 3's era, present in the world rather than remembered.
Kodan
For the first time, players can choose a kodan — one of four playable species ArenaNet is bringing to Orr.
Asura
Asura return as one of four playable species, a choice ArenaNet says is about identity and story rather than power.
Kazuma Jinnouchi
Leads the Guild Wars 3 score, joined by Asuka Ito and Maclaine Diemer.