Press Release - March 7 Kick-off Date for Next World Tournament Series

Press Release - February 23, 2006

VICTORIOUS GUILD, THE LAST PRIDE, COMES AWAY FROM TAIWAN GAME SHOW AS GUILD WARS WORLD CHAMPIONS AND SHARE MORE THAN $100,000 IN CASH AND PRIZES

ARENANET ANNOUNCES MARCH 7 AS KICK-OFF DATE FOR NEXT WORLD TOURNAMENT SERIES

February 23, 2006 (BELLEVUE, WA): Guild Wars® developer ArenaNet® and NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading publisher of online computer games, are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the first Guild Wars World Championship (GWWC) and the crowning of guild The Last Pride (EvIL) from Korea as Guild Wars World Champions. The winning guild defeated five others from around the world during the February 17-19 championship at the Taiwan Game Show in Taipei. The Last Pride also walked away with a cash prize of $50,000 dollars, their share of the $100,000 total purse, for winning the tournament.

The GWWC featured the top six Guild Wars guilds, two each from America, Europe and Korea. These top players survived several months of elimination tournaments staged for the more than one million Guild Wars players worldwide. The battle raged on through the weekend, and on Sunday afternoon The Last Pride (EvIL) guild emerged victorious. They beat out the Korean Regional Champions, the Guild Wars juggernaut War Machine (WM). (For a detailed account of championship battles, please visit www.guildwars.com.)

With the conclusion of the first Guild Wars World Championship comes the news that players will get their next opportunity to test their mettle as the world tournament season for Guild Wars FactionsTM begins March 7, 2006. The Guild Wars Factions Championship (GWFC) series will feature three seasons of competitive play and tournaments. Each tournament season will consist of four weeks of competitive guild vs. guild (GvG) play that will culminate with a season-ending tournament for the top 16 guilds. Each guild that makes this final tournament will earn GWFC points as well as in-game and out-of-game prizes. GWFC points can be spent in each guild's attempt to earn one of five available invitations being offered to compete live at the Guild Wars Factions Championship in August 2006. Just like the recent GWWC event held in Taiwan, the guilds invited to the GWFC will compete for more than $100,000 cash and prizes in front of a live audience, where they will meet and make friends with guilds from around the world. Visit www.guildwars.com for rules and information.

Guild Wars Factions is the highly anticipated stand-alone follow up to the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Guild Wars. Guild Wars is an online roleplaying game where players explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalized characters, and compete in head-to-head battles with players from around the world. ArenaNet attributes the success of Guild Wars to compelling game design, innovative technology that offers a unique online gameplay experience, and a revolutionary business model with no monthly subscription fees charged to users.



About ArenaNet
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's first title, Guild Wars, is a global online roleplaying game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world. Its highly-anticipated follow up, Guild Wars Factions, will be released spring 2006. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.

About NCsoft Corporation
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NCsoft Corporation is the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. Founded in 1997, NCsoft is home to Lineage®, the world's most successful online roleplaying game. NCsoft has joint venture offices located in Japan, Taiwan, and China, as well as branches in North America and the United Kingdom. In fiscal year 2005, NCsoft posted revenues of KRW (Korean Won) 338 billion or approximately US$346 million. More information about NCsoft can be found at www.plaync.com.


-- Interesting to note that the rules say: "Player must be able to travel without restriction to the continental United States of America", so the championship will be held in the US this time.

March 7 kickoff... If it's a GW:F tourney, won't GW:F have to be released prior to the kickoff?

Ya.....the preview even doesn't even start then.

I will bet by the time the regional start, faction will be close to retail, and by the time of championship, faction will be out officially.

I posted this over at gwonline, looking at the schedule, Factions will probably be released in the middle of a season. So my guess is April 14-17.

You're correct. The GWF season begins before the release of Guild Wars Factions. But Guild Wars Factions will be released during the timeframe of this six-month season, hence the name.

Frankly I wasn't expecting us to offer up a $100,000 cash purse just six months after the GWWC, so I'm pretty darned happy about this. And I bet those who stand to win are even more so!

Lastly, the date and even the continental location have not yet been pinned down, so keep your eyes peeled as we provide additional information in the future.

Isnt this a bit soon....

I'd love my Guild to be involved... but im concerened were not ready... we figured we'd have more time i guess.

Isnt this tournament simply going to be dominated by the same guilds that did such a sterling job in the previous tournament?

How do you think they will ensure new blood is introduced?

I too was expecting some sort of disclaimer indicating that the top guilds of the World Championship, especially the top two, would be not be permitted to participate. It would be unfair, I know, but it seems rather daunting for other guilds to compete against World Championship finalists.

i'm just wondering if the 15 days between point seasions is to allow for balance changes and time to adjust to changes, and if so why not 15 days from the upcomming balance and the start of the first seasion?

I think everyone should be able to participate.

But ...

And a Big But

This Is simply too soon... cmon give us a chance.... at least a couple of months please.

please

I cannot see how new guilds are going to be able to even begin to organise themselves to compete with any guild that competed last year.

Not just the top 2...

Announcing now is a great idea.... but u need to give people some time to prepare... unlock skills design builds etc............

This is just stupidly fast

Allows no time to create builds

Allows no time for organised practice with new builds

Allows no time for ensureing you teams have all the required skills

I say start it in July ............ not too far away, but at least it allows us some notice period to try and become competitive

/Mumbles under breath

Nice, now it's time for guilds to buckle down and GVG.

If you would take the time to read all of the released information you would see that only the first of three ladder seasons is march 7th. this means that you don't have to be in the first one to have a chance of making it to the tournament. furthermore should you not make it through and into any of the playoff brackets for any of the 3 seasons there is also a 6th wild card spot which it would seem is not detemrined by the number of points your guild earned in the playoffs for the 3 ladder seasons. clearly not only do you have ample time to prepare for at least the second season but since the points awarded grow with each ladder season it is not inconceivable that even if you in no way involved in the first season you would still have a fairly decent shot at making it to the tourney.