Will Guild Wars 3 be Announced at Summer Game Fest?
The internet is buzzing with theories on what the recent post on the Guild Wars 2 twitter account could mean, with many wondering and hoping that it is a Guild Wars 3 announcement that will occur at Summer Game Fest 2026 on June 5th. As noted on the twitter post here, the excitement is both palpable and real. With a very big drought currently in the MMORPG space, a Guild Wars 3 announcement would be something that many have been waiting for and will be a welcomed development to the genre.
Arena Net, the developers behind the storied Guild Wars franchise, have had their hands full over the last few years with new expansions rolling out for Guild Wars 2 on a regular basis, as well as the recent re-release of Guild Wars Reforged, an updated version of the original Guild Wars game. Both of these games have a cult like following and are seen as quality games, and I would tend to agree even if I personally do not enjoy them as my top gaming picks myself. Over the years, I have played and streamed both games on my twitch channel, but recently I have been unable to get into them in any meaningful way. I would however 100% stream a new title in Guild Wars 3 if this were to be announced on June 5th, 2026.
Not everyone is excited however for the prospect of a Guild Wars 3, namely, the fans of Guild Wars 2 whose biggest concern would be what would happen to all of the cash purchases they made in Guild Wars 2 when Guild Wars 3 arrived. You would think the logical conclusion would be that it would be wasted money for them, but the backlash at that prospect from the current Guild Wars 2 player base has been immense, and Arena Net would really have to think about answering that question before they end up fracturing their community between the people who would be willing to play a new title with no carryover from previous games, and those who would end up staying in the Guild Wars 2 universe instead.
My prediction is that there will be no carry over of cosmetics and cash shop purchases, and that Arena Net would continue to support all three of their games as is the case right now with Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2. I do not see them discontinuing any of those games or stopping to support them completely because ultimately, there will be those who prefer the older experiences over any new game added to the franchise. I believe this is the best option anyways, as many games have many versions of their games over the years, including the most successful MMORPG of all time, World of Warcraft (WoW). Similarly to WoW, Arena Net would simply treat Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 as more classic experiences of the franchise, with Guild Wars 3 being the "retail" version with more updated content for the 2026 years and beyond.
Now while this may or may not be an announcement for Guild Wars 3, it does appear to be a major announcement if it is being showcased at Summer Game Fest. For it to be just a minor expansion at a minimum in my opinion is unlikely, but who knows. Marketers will use any opportunity to get the most hype and eyeballs on their products or services as is possible, and this particular event is one of the largest game exhibitions out there with millions of people watching across all platforms and across co-streams globally. If it is Guild Wars 3 however, I do not expect the game will be anywhere near completion, and I certainly do not expect a release window this year and likely not even in 2027. Perhaps though there will be some testing opportunities if there are early builds available, as one would imagine that if they are teasing the game now, that there must be some sort of playable version around somewhere that could be publicly available for testing or early access in some way, shape, or form.
In any event, I am excited to see the announcement from Arena Net and other developers and publishers at Summer Game Fest on June 5th, 2026. For those interested in watching the announcements, you can do so on the Summer Game Fest website by clicking here.
Until next time,
Blackboa