Guild Wars 3 Will Not Have a Subscription or a Battle Pass

Guild Wars 3 was one of the big reveals during the 2026 Summer Game Fest, and while the new MMORPG is still a ways off, players are eager to learn more about the game set 1,000+ years before the events of the first. IGN sat down with studio head Colin Johanson, who confirmed several key details about Guild Wars 3, including that it will not require a subscription fee.

Guild Wars 3 will be pay-to-play, no Battle Pass

That has always been the series' thing: you pay for the base game or an expansion, and you are good to go. No $15 a month to keep playing, just buy the content and play whenever you want. Guild Wars Reforged and Guild Wars 2 were always celebrated for their accessibility, and Guild Wars 3 will be no different.

I wouldn't be surprised if the new game incorporates a monetization system similar to what Guild Wars 2 used, where players can purchase in-game currency through a real-time economy that lets gold and premium currency fluctuate in value. It was never overly aggressive, but it did offer services that made certain tasks easier, like infinite materials gathering tools, extra character slots, and additional bag space.

In my first years with Guild Wars 2, I never felt the urge to spend anything beyond expansions and the base game. There was no wall preventing progress. It was only later that I was comfortable dropping a little for an extra bag slot, or converting the gold I earned through play into premium currency for quality-of-life tools. Some players took issue with it; I never did. If ArenaNet implements something similar in Guild Wars 3, they will have a player base that is already familiar and largely on board.

The confirmation of no Battle Pass is another win. That monetization model has been applied to nearly every live service title in recent years, and while some players find value in it, it consistently creates the feeling that you are falling behind if you cannot commit enough time to complete the pass.

Towards the end of the interview, Colin says "We will respect our players' time", a simple concept that is, honestly, rarely seen in live service titles anymore.

Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars 1 will be supported alongside Guild Wars 3 development

Shortly after Guild Wars 3 was announced, ArenaNet released a video confirming that past games will not be put into maintenance mode (not like that other live service game) while the new title is in development. They plan to actively support both Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars 1 simultaneously.

Guild Wars 2 will not receive a new expansion in 2026. When Visions of Eternity (current expansion) wraps up this September, the team will shift focus to polishing the base game and revisiting older systems.

Together with the polishing, they will work on releasing Halls of Monuments 2.0, a system that lets players carry certain accomplishments over into Guild Wars 3. The new Hall of Monuments will roll out in phases, covering accomplishments of the base game first, then each expansion one by one over the course of a year.

World vs. World is not being left behind either. ArenaNet is planning a new Borderlands map for that mode, as well as a new map set in Orr that will add a deeper connection between Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars 3.

All of this will be the team's focus after Visions of Eternity concludes. Once Guild Wars 3 ships, they will return to releasing new content, though ArenaNet has not confirmed whether that will follow the same yearly expansion model.

As for Guild Wars 1, the remastered version is receiving UI improvements and 4K resolution scaling. In partnership with Two Weeks Games, the team has also recently brought Steam Deck support and improvements over to the mobile version of the game.

Guild Wars Reforged will fully launch on mobile on June 24. Anyone who owns a copy of the original game can play the mobile version at no additional cost, and mobile players can play alongside PC players. They also made sure that players that owned at least one of the first game’s expansions will have access to all the other expansions at no cost. ArenaNet is also working on new content for the first game, following strong reception to two newly released dungeons.

It is genuinely ambitious to keep three live service games in active development at the same time. Most studios struggle to maintain one. But ArenaNet's commitment to respecting players' time, keeping past games alive, and refusing to lean on the monetization shortcuts that have become standard, makes Guild Wars 3 one of the more exciting things on the horizon for MMO fans.

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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.