Guild Wars 3 vs Guild Wars 2: What Changes, What Carries Over, What Happens to GW2

No, Guild Wars 2 is not shutting down. ArenaNet announced Guild Wars 3 alongside a franchise-commitment diary that leaves room for Guild Wars 2 to keep telling stories. The two games will feel different, and ArenaNet's announcements already sketch what kind of MMO Guild Wars 3 wants to be.

The confirmed differences

	Guild Wars 2	Guild Wars 3
Combat		action-RPG: positioning, momentum, and movement, with action RPG combat meeting Guild Wars build-making
Movement		glide, ride, and wall-run, with a movement and momentum system
Mount		one Seeker per player, spirit-connected
Playable species		four: human, asura, kodan, one unrevealed
Era	Guild Wars 2 visits formerly sunken Orrian ruins raised by Zhaitan	more than 1,000 years before the original game; gods present, Elder Dragons in deepest slumber
Platforms		PC and PlayStation 5, with combat built for controller or mouse and keyboard
Engine		Unreal Engine 5 (reported, not officially confirmed)
Model		buy-to-play, no subscription, no battle pass, no pay-to-win (store undetailed)

Guild Wars 2's 2012 species list, zerg-scale metas, and free-to-play core are not restated here. Those cells stay blank.

What happens to Guild Wars 2

The setting diary says Guild Wars 2 will continue onward with new content, storylines, characters, and locations beyond the release of Guild Wars 3, and that a game set after Guild Wars 2's timeline would conflict with that goal. A Guild Wars 2 expansion calendar after Guild Wars 3 launches is unannounced.

The philosophy post also mentions expansions as future Guild Wars 3 purchases. That is not a Guild Wars 2 schedule.

The bridge between the games

Confirmed: a new Hall of Monuments connects a Guild Wars 2 account to a Guild Wars 3 account and provides awards as thanks for time already spent in the franchise.

What those awards are is unannounced. Speculation, labeled: if the new Hall follows the original's pattern, old achievements could matter in the new game. That is a reading, not a reward list.

Guild Wars 2 already includes formerly sunken Orrian ruins raised by Zhaitan.

Should you play GW2 now or wait?

If you're franchise-curious: Guild Wars 2 remains a live game, and a Hall of Monuments makes a Guild Wars 2 account relevant to Guild Wars 3. If action combat is what's pulling you to Guild Wars 3 specifically, the announcement describes a different combat emphasis. Either way, the Hall's rewards stay unannounced until ArenaNet details them.

FAQ

Is Guild Wars 2 shutting down because of Guild Wars 3?

No. The setting diary commits to Guild Wars 2 continuing with new content beyond Guild Wars 3's release.

Will my Guild Wars 2 account carry over to Guild Wars 3?

A new Hall of Monuments will connect Guild Wars 2 accounts to Guild Wars 3; its rewards are unannounced. Character and item transfer is unannounced.

Is Guild Wars 3 a sequel to Guild Wars 2?

Mechanically it's the next mainline game; narratively it's a prequel to the whole franchise, set more than a thousand years before the original Guild Wars.

Is Guild Wars 3 on console unlike GW2?

Yes. Guild Wars 3 launches on PlayStation 5 as well as PC, the first time the world of Tyria is on both, with combat built for a controller or a mouse and keyboard.