Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet has announced that the release date of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is Oct. 23, 2015.
The announcement comes on the third anniversary of the launch of Guild Wars 2. ArenaNet is also holding a fan and press conference tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. PT during PAX Prime, which is currently going on in Seattle, Washington. ArenaNet co-founder and president Mike O’Brien and game director Colin Johanson will be at the conference to reveal more information on Heart of Thorns and what players can expect from the first expansion for Guild Wars 2.
Players who pre-purchase Heart of Thorns will have access to all future Heart of Thorns beta events. The next one is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4, 2015.
Earlier today, IGN leaked some information regarding Guild Wars 2, saying that it would be getting raids and free-to-play accounts. Traditional large group-style raid content has been absent from Guild Wars 2 since its launch. There will also be restrictions on what players can do with a free-to-play account, such as a reduced level cap, limited amount of characters slots, and limited access to PvP content. None of this has been confirmed by ArenaNet, but it’s possible the developer will make the official announcement at their PAX conference tomorrow, which will be livestreamed on Twitch.