ArenaNet announced today, with the release of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, the first expansion for the MMO, Guild Wars 2 has officially passed the 7 million player mark. Along with other fun stats about the game, ArenaNet also stated players have sunk 1.4 billion hours into Guild Wars 2, “nearly as long as modern humans have walked the Earth.” You can find the full info graphic below.
“This has been a memorable year for ArenaNet and our Guild Wars 2 player community,” Mike O’Brien, co-founder and president of ArenaNet, said. “We’re eager to see how our fast growing community continues to flourish, and we hope they’re eager to embrace where their Guild Wars 2 journey takes them next in Heart of Thorns.”
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is the first expansion for the MMO. Though not raising the level cap, the expansion is set to introduce a new type of endgame progression called the Masteries System. As for what that system entails, be sure to check out our full explanation. Heart of Thorns is also set to introduce guild halls, raids, additions to PvP, elite character specializations, a new character class called the Revenant, and a new area and player story chapters to the game, all without a subscription fee.
Guild Wars 2 has been notable since its launch for never requiring a player subscription, built from the ground up to be buy-and-play, yet still providing over 40 free major content patches to players. Recently, the core game of Guild Wars 2 was even made entirely free.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is live now. Will you be picking up ? Or are you suspicious of MMOs that don’t have subscription fees? Let us know in the comments.
