It’s been a torrid time for Guild Wars 2 maker ArenaNet. At the end of February, the studio cut a third of its workforce and people who had worked there for more than a decade walked away.
NCSoft-on-high reportedly said revenues were falling and the business was not sustainable, and for the first time, Guild Wars 2 – and ArenaNet – looked vulnerable. In one fell stroke, two unannounced projects and 143 staff were gone.
A cloud of concern lingered. Was Guild Wars 2 in decline? And if two unannounced projects had been cancelled, what would follow it?
Until now, the studio hadn’t been talking. It shut up shop to weather the storm. But at EGX Rezzed 2019 in London, I had the chance to talk to long-time ArenaNet employees Linsey Murdock (lead Living World designer – there for some 13 years) and Andrew Gray (senior game designer – there for 15 years) about what had gone on.