Guild Wars 2 official launch date announced

ArenaNet's highly anticipated MMORPG, Guild Wars 2, finally has a release date. After holding several beta events to test the servers, they have finally settled on an date; Guild Wars 2 will officially launch on Tuesday, August 28th.

"This is an incredibly momentous day for the studio and for me personally. This journey began in 2007 when we first announced that we were beginning work on Guild Wars 2 and that you wouldn’t be hearing from us for a while," wrote ArenaNet founder Mike O'Brien. "Then in 2010 we unveiled our manifesto for Guild Wars 2: a living breathing online world that challenges convention, that’s designed for fun instead of grind, and that brings social interaction to a new level in an online world."

He added:  "Through all the long hours and hard decisions, we were bolstered by the knowledge that we were not in this alone. All along you’ve been there for us, cheering us on, supporting us when we needed it, testing early versions of the game, and above all, giving us your honest feedback every step of the way. Guild Wars 2 is a better game for all of the work that our community has put in."

Moving forward, ArenaNet will spend the remaining two months time optimizing, polishing, and balancing the game, to ensure the best launch-day experience possible. We don't want another Diablo 3 after all.

To that end, the next Beta Weekend Event, which will also be the final for Guild Wars 2, is planned for July 20 through July 22. I imagine it will have the same requirements as the previous ones: pre-purchase Guild Wars 2.

"These are exciting times; we’re on the cusp of a new era in online roleplaying games, and we’re glad you’re on this journey with us," O'Brien Concluded.