Join us in sunny Seattle for the sixth annual Penny Arcade Expo (better known as “PAX”). We’ll be at the show for the entire weekend of September 4^th—6^th, so be sure to visit us at booth #842 in the Exhibit Hall. Community Managers Regina Buenaobra and Martin Kerstein will be at the booth all weekend, so stop by and say hi!

Here’s a rundown of some of the ArenaNet activities happening at the expo:

The Art of Guild Wars 2 Book

We’re proud to announce the debut of The Art of Guild Wars 2 at PAX 2009! To celebrate the release of this deluxe collection of concept art, we have a limited supply that we’re giving away.

The Art of Guild Wars 2 is a hardbound book packed with 128 pages of eye candy from ArenaNet’s incredible artists (who will be signing books at PAX). This vivid collection of concept art offers a long-awaited glimpse into the world of Guild Wars 2—it’s a must-have for any Guild Wars fan!

Guild Wars 2 Preview Video

Come check out the amazing Guild Wars 2 preview video, which we’ll be playing throughout the weekend at the ArenaNet booth. The trailer showcases the game’s awe-inspiring environments and reveals some of the cataclysmic events that set up the story of Guild Wars 2.

The Art of Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet’s art team will be on hand to talk about the incredible art design of Guild Wars 2. The panels will feature award-winning talents such as Art Director Daniel Dociu and Concept Art Lead Kekai Kotaki.

Q&A—The Fall of Ascalon and Guild Wars 2 Lore

Q&A—The Fall of Ascalon and Guild Wars 2 Lore

Meet Matt Forbeck, author of the upcoming Guild Wars novelThe Fall of Ascalon. Matt will be joined by members of the design team like Jeff Grubb to discuss the world of GW2.

Q&A—Guild Wars Live Team

Learn more about the current state of the game from our Live Team panel, featuring Linsey Murdock, Joe Kimmes, Robert Gee, and Mike Zadorojny.

See the full Schedule of ArenaNet Booth Events.

By Mike O’Brien

To our fans,

There have been some published rumors over the past few days about Guild Wars 2 delays, and I’m writing you today to set the record straight.

You’ve all seen announcements about restructuring at NCsoft West, and it’s natural to wonder whether that restructuring impacts ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 development. In fact, the reason NCsoft West is restructuring itself is so that the company can put all of its focus into its top-tier games like Guild Wars 2. Our team continues to grow, and has the strong support and financial backing we need to achieve our goal of making Guild Wars 2 the best online role-playing game ever created.

On Friday, NCsoft released investor materials that showed a very broad release window for Guild Wars 2, with the explanation that release timing is still “to be announced.” ArenaNet has never given a release date for Guild Wars 2 other than “when it’s done.” NCsoft’s investor materials are a reflection of that philosophy.

I know some fans had hoped for a smaller gap between the launch of Guild Wars: Eye of the North and the start of beta testing for Guild Wars 2, but we communicated last summer that it would be some time before we could commit to any beta or launch dates. Guild Wars 2 is a large and ambitious game, and we’re going to take the time to do it right.

I’m immensely proud of what our team has accomplished and continues to accomplish with the development of Guild Wars 2. We’ll have a lot more to say when we’re closer to release. Until then, we thank you for your continued interest and ask you to stay tuned.

Mike O’Brien

Bellevue, WA., March 27, 2007—NCsoft® and ArenaNet® today revealed their exciting plans for the future of the hugely successful Guild Wars® franchise. The companies announced that development already is underway on a full sequel to the original Guild Wars games. Guild Wars 2^TM will draw from the game mechanics that made the original Guild Wars one of the most popular online games ever and will add a fully persistent world. It was also revealed that, like its predecessors, Guild Wars 2 will not have a subscription fee. No launch date was announced, but the ArenaNet team anticipates that Guild Wars 2 will go into beta sometime in the second half of 2008.

In addition, ArenaNet developers are working on the first true expansion for the Guild Wars franchise, Guild Wars: Eye of the North^TM. Due to hit store shelves during the 2007 holiday season, Guild Wars: Eye of the North^TM will require at least one of the previous Guild Wars campaigns (Prophecies^TM, Factions^TM, or Nightfall^TM) in order to play. It’s a game that will benefit long-time players of the Guild Wars games, with all of the content targeting existing Guild Wars characters.

“We felt it was extremely important to reward those people who have been playing Guild Wars since the game first launched in 2005,” said Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet. “Those players have seen three very large campaigns created in a little under two years and so we think it’s time to begin filling in the details of the existing world and to provide more content for current characters. We are thrilled to focus our time on something that our players have been asking for.”

Set largely in the dungeons and caverns of the lands of Tyria that players first explored in Guild Wars Prophecies, Guild Wars: Eye of the North will have 18 large, multi-level dungeons, 150 new skills across all 10 Guild Wars professions, 10 new Heroes, 40 new armor sets, and even more items, weapons and titles.

And for those looking even further down the road at Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars: Eye of the North will provide a Hall of Monuments where players’ accomplishments are memorialized and eventually inherited by their Guild Wars 2 characters, unlocking exclusive items and bonuses in Guild Wars 2.

“It’s the payoff we hope players will appreciate as we continue to build on the Guild Wars franchise,” said Strain. “We’re excited to announce these two new products and we want players to know that Guild Wars has an extremely exciting future in the months and years ahead.”

An exclusive full preview of Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars: Eye of the North can be found in the May issue of PC Gamer which will be on newsstands by April 3. More information on the Guild Wars franchise can be found at http://www.guildwars.com.