Guild Wars 2 is switching to smaller, more frequent expansions

pcgamer.com:

Guild Wars 2 had a good 2022. Its tenth year brought a new expansion, the return of the first season of its Living World story, a Steam launch, and quality-of-life improvements that addressed some long-standing gripes lingering in its ageing code. It also brought renewed hope for the future, with the announcement—shortly after End of Dragons' release—of a fourth expansion. It was such a good year that we named it our Best Ongoing Game.

Now, for 2023, ArenaNet is preparing us for that expansion's release. We don't have a theme, or even a release date. Instead, we have a new format for how expansions (plural) will be released.

Here's the basic takeaway: Guild Wars 2's future expansions will be smaller, cheaper and more frequent.

«Rather than launching an expansion every two to four years with a season of Living World in between, we’ll be releasing smaller expansions more frequently at a slightly reduced price and adding additional content for those expansions through quarterly updates,» writes Josh «Grouch» Davis, Guild Wars 2 game director, «meaning that the next big release is only ever a few months away.»

Future expansions will initially release with two new open-world maps, two Strike Missions, «new gameplay and combat features», and new progression in the form of new Masteries and rewards.

Quarterly updates will then build on what the expansion has introduced. «We'll add another open-world map, additional story chapters, challenge modes for the Strike Missions, a new fractal dungeon and challenge mode, new rewards, and additions to the new systems introduced in that expansion,» writes Davis. «Once that expansion’s story is complete, the next expansion will be just around the corner.»

For comparison, End of Dragons