New Guild Wars 2 Expansion 'Janthir Wilds' Launches Today on Windows PC

New Homestead Player Housing is Basecamp for Exploring a Primal Untamed Wilderness

BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today ArenaNet and NCSOFT released Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds^™, the fifth expansion for the award-winning and critically acclaimed MMORPG Guild Wars 2. This latest expansion finally brings housing to the game, giving players their very own homestead to decorate with their friends. Using a powerful new suite of creative tools to build their perfect living space, homesteads further expand the game's philosophy of horizontal progression and enriches the subscription-free online world of one of the most enduring and beloved PC games of all time.

The launch trailer for Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds can be viewed HERE, while further screenshots and concept images can be found at the online press kit.

Janthir Wilds is available on Steam and through the official Guild Wars 2 site for $24.99. Expansion customers will immediately receive access to two new explorable maps: Lowland Shore and Janthir Syntri. In addition, Janthir Wilds will feature new world boss fights against massive elemental entities that have absorbed the power of the land, new exploration and combat utility for the warclaw mount, a new collection of seasonal rewards from the Wizard's Vault, and more:

Homesteads: Janthir Wilds will grant players a plot of land and their own housing space to decorate and customize, with the freedom to place objects and props through a brand new set of tools. The expansion will launch with over 300 individual decoration items, with more to come in following updates. Featuring a mount stable, room for alternate characters to hang out, and resource gathering improvements, homesteads will provide a new way to express personal identity in the world of Tyria.

Kodan Spear Mastery: for the first time since launch, all character professions will gain access to a new weapon type, including new combat skills. The spear is the primary armament of the Lowland Kodan, Guild Wars 2's humanoid bear race, and they will teach players a bevy of new abilities with which to fight the hostile denizens of Janthir while also expanding character gameplay build possibilities.

Warclaw Mount Update: previously occupying a niche for World-vs.-World competitive game modes, the newly updated warclaw mount provides additional opportunities for exploration in the open world via a new mastery track. Once fully trained, this large cat doesn't take fall damage, can leap multiple times in the air, uses its sharp nose to sniff for treasure, and employs its chain pull skill in combat against enemies while also allowing its rider to throw lances from the saddle.

New World Boss Event: the primordial energies of Janthir have drawn massive entities known as titans to its rocky shores. This dual threat encounter will challenge upwards of 50 players to put all their new skills to use in the kind of massive, signature epic showdown that Guild Wars 2 is known for.

New Convergences: arriving with the first content update post-launch, this 50-player instanced game mode introduced in Secrets of the Obscure returns with new epic encounters against Janthir's aforementioned elemental-infused titans.

ArenaNet plans to release additional content for Janthir Wilds at no extra charge to players throughout the next several months and into 2025, including a new legendary spear weapon and backpack, a third and fourth map, and for the first time in five years, a new raid, 10-player instances with unique story beats and challenging boss encounters.

The story of Janthir Wilds continues from the events of the 2023 Secrets of the Obscure^™ expansion. Fresh off of dealing with the extraplanar threat of the Kryptis, the nations and peoples of Tyria have come together to form a united defense against forces that would wreak havoc on the world. The player is sent on a diplomatic mission to the lands of the elusive Lowland Kodan, whose pastoral villages dot the primal landscape of Janthir. While new allies offer reprieve from the journey, there also lurks eidolic danger amidst the crags and brambles of the terrain itself.

"Janthir Wilds is a promise fulfilled," said Josh Davis, Guild Wars 2 Game Director. "When we announced we were moving to yearly expansion cycles, this is what we had in mind: new content every few months full of compelling content and new gameplay features so that the game always feels fresh when you log in. The entire studio team is excited to see what kind of creations players construct in their own homestead."

For more information about Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, please visit the official web site.

About Guild Wars® 2
Guild Wars 2 is a visually stunning online game that offers players the epic grandeur of a massive role-playing environment combined with action combat, large-scale dynamic events that players tackle together, plus both team-based and World vs. World competitive battles. Available on Windows PC and Steam, the game is updated frequently with expansion and free content that chronicles the ongoing story of Tyria and introduces new environments and activities to explore. Yet with all these updates, the game continues the no-subscription-fee business model that made the original Guild Wars so popular. For more details, please visit www.guildwars2.com

About ArenaNet
ArenaNet is the developer of the groundbreaking Guild Wars 2 and best-selling Guild Wars online role-playing games. The studio's mission is to create innovative online worlds, cultivate a vibrant and engaged global community of players, and to incorporate handcrafted artistry into every aspect of their games. ArenaNet formed in 2000 and it has attracted over 16 million players worldwide, with press and fans consistently calling Guild Wars 2 one of the best MMOs and RPGs of all time.

SOURCE NCSOFT