There’s still nothing quite like the original Guild Wars. It came out before World of Warcraft had crystallized the face of the modern MMORPG, and was as inspired by Magic: The Gathering as it was by Everquest or Ultima. It turned out as more of a co-op ARPG with shared town hubs, dual-class deckbuilding, and a cutscene-driven narrative—and that unique confluence of inspirations may be why it’s still popular today. So popular, in fact, that it’s even a surprise to developer ArenaNet.
The game’s recent remaster, Guild Wars Reforged, launched Wednesday as a free update for existing players and an inexpensive way to get in for newbies. While most Guild Wars fans are on to the game’s more traditionally MMO-ish sequel, Reforged still brought the game’s concurrent player peak on Steam up to over 5,000 at time of writing, according to SteamDB.
The population surge was met with surprise from ArenaNet, which shared a post on X saying, “Demand for Guild Wars Reforged blew past our projections, causing long downloads for some non-Steam players. We’re adding servers & exploring new options to fix this before the weekend. Thanks for your patience!”
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