Guild Wars Reforged Could Make This Year The Best Time To Start A 20-Year-Old MMORPG
Just like the old days.
When it comes to massively multiplayer online RPGs, the genre’s behemoths like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV tend to soak up most of the attention. But there’s a whole world of MMORPGs out there beyond the biggest names, some of which have been running for just as long, with equally devoted fanbases. Now, one MMORPG that’s been around since 2005 is getting a major revamp to celebrate its 20th anniversary and it’s one that new players in particular might want to take notice of.
Guild Wars was released in April 2005, just a few months after World of Warcraft. To mark 20 years of operation, developer ArenaNet is now set to launch a new version of the classic game that aims to add modern conveniences and visual upgrades while keeping the spirit of the game fully intact. Guild Wars Reforged will launch on December 3 as a free update to the original game. For anyone who’s yet to try out the 20-year-old RPG, Guild Wars Reforged packs the game’s three standalone campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall) all together for $20, which is $10 cheaper than the current price for the collection. ArenaNet will hold a Twitch stream to show off Guild Wars Reforged for the first time on November 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Guild Wars Reforged adds modern hardware support and visual updates to a classic MMORPG.
ArenaNet developed the Guild Wars Reforged revamp alongside 2weeks, a studio formed by previous ArenaNet employees who worked on the original Guild Wars. With Guild Wars Reforged, the game will be compatible with modern controllers for the first time and fully verified on Steam Deck. To make it more playable for anyone who’s using Steam Deck or controller compatibility to play from the couch, the game is also getting a user interface update that includes larger text sizes and high-resolution display support to make it more readable when you’re not playing at a desk.
Not much is changing in terms of Guild Wars’ gameplay. The core of the game is staying exactly the same, but the addition of a new quest tracking system and navigation guides in the UI should make it easier to dive into for players not used to the more hands-off approach to player guidance that was typical when Guild Wars first launched. ArenaNet is also sprucing up the game’s graphics to take advantage of modern hardware and adding new lighting effects.
While the changes coming to Guild Wars are relatively minor, they’re a step toward making the game more appealing to a larger audience, and ArenaNet says there’s more to come.
A fresh coat of paint might be all this classic MMORPG needs.
“Guild Wars Reforged isn't about a one-time update,” ArenaNet writes in the update’s Steam announcement. “We plan to keep collaborating with our partners at 2weeks to make further improvements to the game in the future.”
All in all, Guild Wars Reforged is a set of relatively small changes, but ones that could help the decades-old MMORPG connect with more players. Guild Wars is one of the first MMORPGs I ever played, and while I haven’t touched it in years, the update seems like as good a reason as any to give it another spin. More than the updates coming this December, what’s most exciting about Guild Wars Reforged is the potential for what’s coming next. As ArenaNet says, the new version represents the start of its work with 2weeks, so there may be bigger changes coming down the line.
It’s also notable that the Guild Wars revamp lands on its 20th anniversary, when its biggest competitors in the MMORPG space have already gotten game-changing updates years ago. Final Fantasy XIV famously relaunched with the A Realm Reborn update after a disastrous launch, going on to become one of the most popular MMORPGs ever. World of Warcraft has World of Warcraft Classic, a set of dedicated servers that recreate and remix different eras in the game’s long history. Guild Wars Reforged is nowhere near as big of a change as either of those updates, but the chance to revisit a classic RPG with a few modern updates on top could be just what the niche online game needs 20 years on.
