GW:EN — Released

Guild Wars: Eye of the North went live today at 12:00 a.m.

ArenaNet has issued an official press release.

NCsoft® and ArenaNet® have launched Guild Wars: Eye of the North^TM, the first expansion to the Guild Wars® franchise of subscription-free, online roleplaying games. Guild Wars players who purchase the expansion can access Eye of the North content through any of the multi-million-selling Guild Wars campaigns–Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions^TM, or Guild Wars Nightfall^TM. The expansion also includes an innovative feature that allows players to take achievements they have earned over the years with them into the forthcoming Guild Wars 2^TM.

Guild Wars: Eye of the North, continues the subscription-free business model pioneered by ArenaNet. The expansion is now available at the Official Guild Wars In-game Store and at Plaync.com, as well as from retailers in North America and Europe, for an expected suggested retail price of $39.99.

Last night, we celebrated the game’s launch as it became available to players worldwide. This was a unique experience, because every other game that I’ve worked on has gone on sale in retail stores at about 9 a.m. (or whenever the store opens) on Monday or Tuesday morning. Any celebration would usually occur when the final build was submitted to the publisher, often a month or two before the game was released, or a short while after it appeared on store shelves. However, last night, we massed in an open part of the building along with the other NCsoft offices from around the world who joined via video conference to count down the final seconds before players were allowed to experience Guild Wars: Eye of the North. Games tend to go out with a whimper rather than a bang; the last few weeks are often dedicated to tracking down the remaining critical bugs before sending the game off to be manufactured. It was nice to give Guild Wars: Eye of the North the send off it deserved.

See you in Tyria.