NCSoft Confirms Guild Wars 3 in the Pipelines

In its recent shareholders’ meeting, NCSoft confirmed Guild Wars 3 will be released in the not too distant future, but ArenaNet said the topic won’t be brought up in future meeting for discussion. In a statement to MMORPG.com, ArenaNet said the following:

“As an active game studio we are always doing internal exploratory work for possible future titles we’d want to create, however, we have nothing to confirm right now. The team’s focus is on Guild Wars 2 development, including the game’s next expansion, which we’re excited to talk about soon.”

NCSoft Confirms Guild Wars 3 to Shareholders

A report by Korea’s Money Today (via WCCTech) revealed Guild Wars 3 is in development, but ArenaNet’s North American team is currently focused on Guild Wars 2 content, including the upcoming expansion.

Therefore, we won’t see Guild Wars 3 on digital shelves for several years, and much can change between now and then. Especially as NCSoft’s stock price falls due to mediocre performance and as the company continues to flounder.

According to Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo (via translation of an Invenglobal article), NCSoft’s stock price has fallen because of “unstable” global gaming markets. “By restoring trust and demonstrating trust-based performance, NCSoft will restore consumer confidence.

Invenglobal’s Q&A is particularly combative, with the outlet openly questioning Kim Taek-jin’s ability to turn the gaming publisher around.  NCSoft stopped reporting sales on a game-by-game basis, something the outlet grilled the company on. As a result, confirming Guild Wars 3 in this report feels more like a throwaway to appease shareholders.