Still waiting to hear whether we’re getting a new Guild Wars 2 expansion next year and what it might look like? Keep waiting: The “holiday studio update” from the team doesn’t confirm anything on that front. In the memo, game director Josh “Grouch” Davis reiterates how well Visions of Eternity is going, albeit in his usual mildly vague way.
“At this point in its release cycle, Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity has already outperformed Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds from a sales perspective, and the momentum from the expansion’s release has helped grow the game, generally speaking,” he says. “In recent months, we’ve seen periods where more new players joined us than at any point since our 2022 Steam debut (which itself was a high-water mark). Veteran players have been returning in droves, and overall player activity is higher now than it has been in years. It’s been energizing to see momentum like this, and it’s exceeded our expectations in nearly every way.”
Davis does promise to deliver the next quarterly roadmap early in 2026, as we’re expecting the first big content update in VOE to land on February 3rd, preceded by the balance update January 13th. The update will include the new raid, raid and strike quickplay, and fashion templates – sorely needed. He even drops a little tease for the new legendary ring en route, if that’s your vibe; we’re tucking that down below.
Meanwhile, Guild Wars Reforged also released its first post-launch update with something players have wanted for ages: the ability to swap the login and character selection screens. The 2weeks devs also added two test features:
- Reforged Mode, which basically adds functionality to Pre-Searing, with the Piken Square outpost, faster experience, present and buffed henchies, more spawns, and
- Dhuum’s Covenant, which is basically a hardcore mode, though you don’t lose your character when you die – just the coveted hardcore status.
These modes are in alpha and beta, respectively.
