0
Hey, Guild Wars community,
With the final content update for Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ now live, we’ve officially wrapped our fifth expansion, which is the second built under the annual release model we introduced in early 2023.
Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds tested how we tell stories, evolve systems, and deliver meaningful updates on a faster, more consistent schedule. Some things landed well. Others, not as much.
Just like we did after Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, we’ve been listening to your feedback and acting on it. In this blog, we’ll share how those lessons are shaping our next expansion and the changes you can expect to see. This will give you helpful context as we unveil our next expansion next week.
Over the past nine months, Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds brought a wide range of new experiences to Tyria.
Across nineteen story chapters and four new open-world maps, the narrative explored the aftermath of the Elder Dragon era through a more grounded and political lens. Your choices helped shape the balance of power in a world learning to live without that existential threat and uncovered ancient secrets best left buried.
We brought spears to land combat—our first new terrestrial weapon type since the game’s launch—along with a new set of relics that deepened build crafting and expanded playstyle customization.
Our endgame offerings grew as well. You took on the game’s first new raid in over five years, complete with challenge and legendary modes. We also introduced a new Convergence encounter and a fractal dungeon with its own challenge mode, adding more variety and goals for PvE-focused players.
Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds also marked the arrival of Homesteads, a major feature that brought player housing to the game. That was paired with a rework of the decoration system, updates to the warclaw mount, two new legendaries, tons of new armor and weapon sets, Wizard’s Vault refreshes, and a long list of quality-of-life upgrades.
In PvP, we built something new with your help. The Push game mode began as a prototype and evolved through multiple public betas, shaped directly by player feedback. Co-developing a competitive mode in a live environment is rare, and we’re proud of what it represents. The final version launches later this summer, and we hope it sets a precedent for future community-driven efforts.
Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds delivered a lot in a short amount of time. That momentum was only possible because of your passion, creativity, and honest feedback.
Finding the Right RhythmGuild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds launched in August of last year, followed by three quarterly updates. After the first of those updates arrived in November 2024, we heard consistent feedback from the community: the additional story content felt too short, and the lack of a new open-world map made the update feel noticeably light. Similar reactions to story scope followed the second and third releases, signaling that the pacing and structure of these releases could better align with your expectations.
For our next expansion, we’re refining that structure to give each update more depth and impact. The first quarterly release after the expansion’s launch will not include new story or map content. Instead, it will focus on updates to core systems and longstanding features. This approach gives us the space to revisit foundational elements of the game—improvements that support the long-term health of Guild Wars 2 and reflect the design philosophy outlined in the “Building Smarter, Not Bigger” section below.
By focusing on story and map development in the second and third quarterly updates, we’re able to make those releases more robust and satisfying. Each will introduce a larger, more content-rich map and a longer, more fully developed story than what players saw in the equivalent Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds updates. While the total amount of story content across the expansion is increasing modestly, the bigger benefit is how much more meaningful each individual release will feel, along with the scope improvements to the open-world maps.
This approach allows for more complete and satisfying story arcs, and it results in a net increase in total content delivered over the course of the expansion.
Building Smarter, Not BiggerOne of our biggest priorities right now (and likely for years to come) is untangling years of accumulated system complexity. That means streamlining overlapping features, reducing technical debt, and reinforcing what makes Guild Wars 2 shine. This complexity doesn’t just slow us down behind the scenes. It also makes onboarding harder for new and returning players, even in areas designed for seasoned adventurers like endgame PvE.
Over the past two expansions, we’ve shifted away from stacking new systems on top of old ones. Instead, we’re focusing on sustainable upgrades to the game’s foundation.
Features like the Wizard’s Vault didn’t just offer something new; they replaced daily achievements and login rewards with a streamlined, modern alternative. Weaponmaster Training and relics were built to expand existing build systems. Homesteads and the decoration system overhaul also improved guild halls. We also updated core mount systems during both expansions, with refinements to the skyscale in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure and improvements to the warclaw in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds. Each change was designed to strengthen features you already use and love.
Support for newly introduced features doesn’t end at launch. Since the Homesteads feature debuted, we’ve continued to expand and refine the system with new decorations and quality-of-life improvements, including an increase to the overall decoration cap in the final Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds release, “Absolution.” In our upcoming July 15 release, we’re doubling the decoration area limit from 200 to 400. This directly addresses one of the most common requests we’ve heard from you. You can also expect to see continued support for the Homesteads feature in our next expansion as we build on this foundation.
These kinds of changes may not always grab headlines, but they make the game easier to understand, easier to maintain, and more enjoyable to play. Just as importantly, they reflect what many of you have asked us to do: focus less on introducing entirely new systems and more on refining and modernizing what we already have. That’s a direction we believe in, and one we’re proud to continue as we build the next chapter of Guild Wars 2.
New Tricks for Every TradeOver the past two expansions, we’ve expanded options for combat by giving you more tools to customize your builds and play your way. Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure introduced new weapon proficiencies for every profession and separated relics from runes to deepen build crafting. The addition of Weaponmaster Training was also a major step forward in allowing players to freely mix and match elite specialization weapons across builds, and the addition of land spears offered a new weapon for every profession to use.
With our next expansion, we’re taking the next step. Elite specializations are making a return, this time designed to work together with the flexible build crafting system we’ve been refining over the past few years. However, these new specializations won’t come with dedicated weapons. Instead, each one introduces unique profession mechanics, a new trait line, utility skills, an elite skill, a healing skill, and distinct playstyles without locking you into a specific weapon or equipment loadout.
These new specializations are designed to feel fresh, fun, and unique to Guild Wars 2 while building on the systems you already know and love. We’ll have much more to share soon.
The launch of the Mount Balrior raid wasn’t just a development milestone for us—with both legendary and challenge modes, it was a long-awaited return for players eager to take on high-end group content. It marked a turning point in our ongoing effort to revitalize endgame PvE.
Over the past few years, we’ve focused on delivering meaningful, replayable encounters across both raids and Strike Missions. Most recently, we returned to our encounter design roots with Kinfall, a new fractal designed in direct response to player feedback. With Kinfall, we stepped back from the raid-like complexity of recent fractals and focused instead on creating a streamlined, repeatable experience that captures the feel of early favorites. The challenge mode arrived a few weeks later, offering both accessibility and satisfying difficulty.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to expand endgame content—including new encounters complete with challenge and legendary modes. But just as important as adding more is making that content better, more approachable, and more rewarding to return to.
In the first quarterly release of our next expansion, that means unifying raids and Strike Missions into a more consistent structure, improving onboarding for newer players, reworking parts of the UI, streamlining rewards, and investing in systems that help group content feel easier to step into and more meaningful to stick with.
We want Guild Wars 2‘s endgame to be something anyone can grow into, whether you’re joining your first organized group or aiming to master every challenge we throw your way.
Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds helped us learn where to push harder, where to simplify, and how to better listen to the needs of our players. Your feedback didn’t just resonate with us; it reshaped how we’re thinking about the game and how we’re building what’s coming next.
Mark your calendar—you’ll get your first look at the next expansion on July 15. Thanks again for your passion, your support, and your belief in this world—and in the people who bring it to life.
See you next week,
Josh Davis, Game Director
P.S. Thanks for reading this far. Here’s another teaser for your troubles.
View the full article
