Guild Wars: Factions

Guild Wars Factions Ships Worldwide

One of the Year's Most Anticipated Games Hits Store Shelves This Week

April 26, 2006 (BELLEVUE, WA) - ArenaNet®, developer of the award-winning online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announce today that one of the year's most-anticipated PC titles, Guild Wars FactionsTM, has officially shipped. For fans of the game that revolutionized online roleplaying, the wait is nearly over as Guild Wars Factions goes out today to retail stores worldwide.

Guild Wars Factions is the stand-alone follow-up to Guild Wars, the game that set new standards in online gaming with fresh design, innovative technology and no-subscription-fee pricing. With an expected retail price of $49.99, Guild Wars Factions will be available worldwide and servers supporting the new release will "go live" at 12:01 AM PDT /7:01 GMT on April 28, 2006.

Those who pre-ordered the game will be able to participate in the exclusive Guild Wars Factions Head Start Event beginning at 12:01 AM PDT/7:01 AM GMT on April 27, 2006. These lucky gamers will have access to the game for a total of 48 hours, including a full 24 hours before the game's global release. During the first 24 hours of the Head Start Event, ArenaNet has planned an exclusive in-game event titled "Day of the Tengu," in which players will join one-day-only "Day of the Tengu" quests, and earn exclusive in-game rewards.

"New features in Guild Wars Factions such as guild scrimmages, alliance battles, ranked character titles, and some surprises still to come all resulted from our drive to create a truly unique gaming experience for existing and new fans of the Guild Wars universe," says Mike O'Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "With a full year of development and a passionate design team, we think what we've created delivers on that and much, much more. Either played as a stand-alone game, or linked with your original Guild Wars account, Guild Wars Factions is a game we are thoroughly proud of - and still carries no subscription fee."

Guild Wars Factions takes place on the Asian-inspired continent of Cantha, where players create a character from eight distinct professions - including the newly created Assassin and Ritualist - and join an epic quest that pits two warring factions, the Luxons and the Kurzicks, against an ancient evil, and against each other. As players become embroiled in this brutal war of conquest, new missions will provide both roleplaying fans and competitive PvP players the opportunity to help determine the fate of Cantha.

Guild Wars Factions is rated T for Teen. For more information, please visit www.guildwars.com.

About ArenaNet

ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's first title, Guild Wars, is a global online roleplaying game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world. Its highly anticipated follow up, Guild Wars Factions, will be released spring 2006. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.

About NCsoft Corporation

NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its AAA franchises that include Lineage/Lineage II, City of Heroes/City of Villains, Guild Wars/Guild Wars Factions and Auto Assault. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.plaync.com.

Source:

Press Release

EIN GROSSARTIGES NEUES ABENTEUER

Entdeckt eine Revolution im Gameplay: Vergebt Eure Loyalität, bildet Bündnisse und führt Eure Gilde in den Kampf um Kontrolle über Gebiete und Ruhm für Eure Seite.

WIEDERHOLBARE HERAUSFORDERUNGSMISSIONEN

Werdet zum Bündnischampion: Wiederholt Missionen, um je nach Geschwindigkeit, Fertigkeiten und zugefügtem Schaden die höchste Belohnung zu verdienen.

IN EINEM GESPALTENEN LAND

BEDEUTET ENIGKEIT MACHT

***Jenseits eines Meeres aus Jade

liegt eine Welt, die vom Hass zweier

Krieg führender Nationen

in Stücke gerissen wurde.***

Hört auf jene,

die voranschreiten ...

jeder muss Stellung beziehen.

ONLINE SPIELEN. GEBÜHRENFREI

Spielt ohne Abonnementgebühren online auf den sicheren Guild Wars®-Servern.

SPANNENDE NEUE INHALTE

Erforscht enorme Gebiete, meistert neue Klassen und kämpft mit tödlichen neuen Fertigkeiten und Waffen gegen Furcht erregende Monster.

BONUS:

• EXKLUSIVES DOPPELSEITIGES POSTER
• GUILD WARS FACTIONS™-SPIELAKTIVIERUNGSKARTEN ZUM SAMMELN

GEBÜHRENFREIES ONLINE-SPIEL*

* Kauf des Produkts und Internetverbindung erforderlich.

Source:

Back of Keep Case (German)

Guild Wars Factions To Be Unveiled In Massive Beta Testing Event Available To More Than 3 Million Gamers

ArenaNet Opens Up Highly Anticipated Game To Global Beta Test and Announces Pre-Order Availability Thursday 9 February 2006/... ArenaNet®, creators of the number one selling online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Europe, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announce today plans for a landmark event to preview Guild Wars Factions™, the highly anticipated follow up to 2005's critically acclaimed game Guild Wars. On March 24, 2006, game players around the globe are invited to participate in the Guild Wars Factions Preview Event, an exclusive and one-time opportunity unlike any offered before.

All current Guild Wars players can join the event, and will be able to invite up to three of their friends using an in-game invitation interface. Entry into the beta event will also be available through the Guild Wars Factions European online pre-order, details of which will be announced shortly.

A game beta test of this size and scope has never been offered before and is a unique event for both fans and the ArenaNet team alike. With current Guild Wars players, their invited friends, and players around the world who purchase the GWF pre-order converging on the game for the Guild Wars Factions Preview Event, ArenaNet is preparing capacity in all its data centers to handle record-breaking numbers of new players.

"To be able to open up Guild Wars Factions and share this one-time experience with so many people is truly a thrill," said Mike O'Brien, ArenaNet co-founder. "Guild Wars players will get the opportunity to play Factions before the game's release while sharing the game with up to three of their friends. We can't wait for the feedback from the seasoned players, as well as those who join us for the first time on March 24."

Guild Wars is an online roleplaying game where players explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalized characters, and compete in head-to-head guild battles with players from around the world. In addition to the compelling game design and innovative technology that make playing Guild Wars a unique experience, Guild Wars' success is due in part to a revolutionary business model in which no monthly subscription fee is charged to its users.

Please visit www.guildwars.com for more information.

Source:

Press release (9th February 2006)

Global Release Date For Guild Wars Factions

**NCsoft Europe Confirms Collector's Edition Contents

Friday 10 March 2006/**... ArenaNet®, developer of the award-winning online role-playing game Guild Wars® and NCsoft® Europe, the world's leading publisher of online computer games, announce today the release date of Guild Wars Factions™, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Guild Wars. Guild Wars Factions will be available in stores worldwide 28th April 2006.

European players will also have the opportunity to pick up the European Guild Wars Factions Collector's Edition, a special bonus edition that's jam-packed with goodies for Guild Wars fans, including an art book, exclusive in-game signature emotes for the Ritualist and Assassin professions, Jeremy Soule Guild Wars Factions soundtracks, Ritualist cloth picture, Factions desk calendar and mouse mat, among other bonuses.

Guild Wars Factions is the continuation of the epic online battle set forth in Guild Wars, the ground-breaking online role-playing game that took the gaming world by storm in 2005 with its fantastic design, depth of play, and no-subscription-fee model. Guild Wars Factions opens another gateway into the Guild Wars universe, allowing new players to join the community of more than one million gamers already playing Guild Wars and providing veterans with a new world of conflict, combat and thrilling adventure in the mysterious realm of Cantha. As the saga continues, the factions of the empire battle for the realm; players will be able to pledge their allegiance to one of these factions and by their actions determine who the winner will be. While Guild Wars Factions is a standalone product that does not require the Guild Wars to play, gamers with Guild Wars accounts who purchase Factions will be able to play in the both campaigns with their existing characters.

"Guild Wars Factions is an exceptional game that invites players to immerse themselves in a truly epic adventure unlike any they have seen," says Patrick Wyatt, a co-founder of ArenaNet. "The four new mission types create a unique experience that will engage both the role-playing and competitive gamer in cooperative conquest of territories and strategic battles. Set against the landscapes of the visually stunning, Asian-themed continent of Cantha, and with two new characters to choose from - Assassin and Ritualist - Guild Wars Factions will redefine the online RPG experience."

For gamers who can't wait until 28th April to get their hands on a copy of Guild Wars Factions, ArenaNet will be hosting a massive beta test event in which all existing Guild Wars players and their friends are invited to delve into the experiences awaiting them in Cantha.

For more information on Guild Wars Factions please point your browsers towards the official site – www.guildwars.com

Source:

Press release (10th March 2006)

Half A Million Gamers Played More Than Three Million Hours In Guild Wars Landmark Weekend Event

**Guild Wars Factions looks set to take Europe by storm

Monday 3 April 2006/**... ArenaNet®, developer of the award-winning online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, opened the virtual door for a weekend-long sneak peak at its new game Guild Wars Factions™, and players around the world responded in record numbers. From 12:01 AM on Friday, 24 March until 11:59 PM on 26 March, more than 500,000 players participated in the invitation-only preview event and cumulatively spent more than three million hours online, making the Guild Wars Factions Preview Event (FPE) one of the largest preview events in gaming history. Guild Wars Factions is set to hit store shelves on 28 April 2006 with a suggested retail price of £29.99 / €44.99.

"We knew that by focusing on new ways to play and new things to do within the game, such as the 12x12 Alliance Battles, which were extremely popular with both PvP and roleplaying gamers, that fans would respond enthusiastically," says Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet. "This weekend reinforced that we are on the right track with Guild Wars Factions and are making a game that rises to the challenge to be innovative and ever-compelling for its fans."

The extraordinary weekend is just the latest success for Guild Wars, the wildly popular game that continues to redefine the online roleplaying experience. The Guild Wars Factions pre-order pack offered a key code for access into the Factions Preview Event, driving gamers to their local game stores and driving sales of the pre-order pack into weekly Top 10 lists alongside full retail titles at stores and chains around the world.

"Guild Wars was a huge success in Europe, topping charts all across the continent," says Max Brown, Sales Director, NCsoft Europe. "The success of the weekend shows that many of those players are still very much active and eager to experience the next campaign in this ground-breaking series."

Guild Wars Factions is the highly anticipated stand-alone follow up to the critically acclaimed game Guild Wars, an online roleplaying game in which players explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalised characters, and compete in head-to-head battles with players from around the world. ArenaNet attributes the success of Guild Wars to compelling game design, innovative technology that offers a unique online gameplay experience, and a revolutionary business model with no monthly subscription fees charged to users.

For more information, please visit http://eu.guildwars.com.

Source:

Press release (3rd April 2006)

Guild Wars Factions World Championship Announced for Leipzig, Germany, 24-27 August

**Top Guilds from Around the Globe to Compete for More than $100,000 in Cash and Prizes

Thursday 6 April 2006/**... Hot on the heels of a massive global preview event for Guild Wars Factions™, ArenaNet®, developer of the award-winning online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announce today the date and location of the Guild Wars Factions World Championship. The Guild Wars Factions World Championship event will take place at the biggest European electronic game show, GC Game Convention in Leipzig, Germany, 24-27 August 2006.

Dirk Metzger, marketing director, NCsoft Europe, commented: "Guild Wars has been a huge success in Europe – it topped the charts all across Europe when it was released last year and the momentum has been building ever since. The news that the Guild Wars Factions World Championship will be held in Leipzig will be greeted with enormous enthusiasm by the fans and we are looking forward to creating a real buzz during the Game Convention."

The Guild Wars Factions World Championship is a culmination of the Guild Wars Factions Championship Series, comprised of three seasons of competitive gameplay taking place between 7 March and 26 June 2006. The Championship Series is open to all Guild Wars players, and at the end of each season, the top 16 guilds on the Guild Wars Ladder will compete in post-season playoffs for Guild Wars Factions Championship Points. The five guilds from around the world with the most Championship Points at the end of the three qualifying seasons along with the winner of the upcoming Guild Wars Factions Championship Open Event, will be awarded a trip to the GC Game Convention in Leipzig, where they will compete for more than $100,000 in cash and prizes. The winner of the Guild Wars Factions World Championship will also earn the honour of choosing the designs of next season's set of Guild Wars skill pins, new collectable badges given to Guild Wars fans at events throughout the year.

Guild Wars Factions is the highly anticipated stand-alone follow-up to the critically acclaimed game Guild Wars, an online roleplaying game in which more than one million players explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalised characters, and compete in head-to-head battles with players from around the globe. ArenaNet attributes the success of Guild Wars to compelling game design, innovative technology that offers a unique online gameplay experience, and a revolutionary business model with no monthly subscription fees. Guild Wars Factions is set to hit store shelves on 28 April 2006 with a suggested retail price of £29.99 / €44.99.

Complete details regarding the tournament rules are available at http://guildwars.com/events/championship/factions/default.php.

For more information, please visit http://eu.guildwars.com.

Source:

Press release (6th April 2006)

Betreten Sie eine Welt voller Gefahren, in der die Königreiche der Menschen in erbitterten Konflikten zerstört werden und in der Gilden alles daran setzen werden, um ihre Fraktion zu Ruhm zu führen...

Die Flammensucher-Prophezeiungen sind eingetreten. Jetzt müssen Sie nach Cantha im Süden reisen, ein ein Kaiserreich, das von zwei Völkern, die in einem brutalen, endlosen Krieg verwickelt sind, verwüstet wurde. Entscheiden Sie, wem Ihre Loyalität gilt, bilden Sie Bündnisse und kämpfen Sie mit Ihrer Gilde gegen ein uraltes Übel, das droht, einmal mehr Pest und Unheil zu verbreiten.

Guild Wars® Factions™ ist die nächste eigenständige Kampagne der epischen Guild Wars®-Saga. Schließen Sie sich über einer Million Abenteurern aus aller Welt an, erleben Sie ein brandneues Abenteuer in aufregenden neuen Landschaften und meistern Sie noch mehr Fertigkeiten.

Kurzinfo

• Spielen Sie ohne Abonnementgebühren online auf den sicheren Guild Wars®-Servern.
• Spielen Sie alleine oder gründen Sie mit Freunden eine Gilde, um an weltweiten Turnieren teilzunehmen.
• Wählen Sie aus acht einzigartigen Klassen, einschließlich der beiden neuen Assassinen- und Ritualisten-Klassen.
• Erfreuen Sie sich an revolutionären, rasanten Abenteuern ohne Reiseverzögerungen, hohe Sterbemalusse oder Spawn Camping.
• Beeinflussen Sie den Ausgang des Krieges zwischen Völkern, bilden Sie Bündnisse und kämpfen Sie um die Vorherrschaft über wohlhabende Regionen in Cantha.
• Spielen Sie Guild Wars® und Guild Wars® Factions, um Ihre Abenteuer von Tyria bis nach Cantha auszuweiten.

Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter de.guildwars.com

Source:

NCsoft "Play and See" Product Catalog 2006 (German)