Back in June, ArenaNet shocked players around the globe when the studio unexpectedly announced a third entry to its popular Guild Wars saga. Since then, we have been excitedly waiting for more information and details on the game, and during last week’s Gamescom 2026 we were invited to join a showcase and Q&A session with ArenaNet’s Colin Johanson (Game Director) and Kevin Stocker (Lead Combat Designer), alongside a select few other outlets. We were able to get an early look at the game’s Momentum system, environmental combat, class design, and ArenaNet’s vision for the next generation of western MMOs.
Having seen a ~20-minute demo of the areas, movement, and combat in the game, as well as being able to ask Colin and Kevin questions on the game, we can say one thing for certain: This one is going to be even bigger and more exciting than we initially imagined. So, let’s get straight to it!
Attending the showcase for Icy Veins was Jörn Thieme (Seliathan). We’d like to thank Colin, Kevin, and everyone else at ArenaNet for inviting us to this early look at Guild Wars 3 at Gamescom 2026.
Into the Past We Go
Unlike most sequels to popular franchises that continue the timelines of previous entries with their timeline, Guild Wars 3 decisively goes in the other direction. After venturing through the ruins of the Orr Kingdom in Guild Wars 1 and 2, players were often left wondering what the land and cities must have looked like before their destruction and decline. Guild Wars 3 will be answering those questions, and more, by taking a step back not just to before the Searing, but even further: Over 1000 years into the past, to a time when human presence in Orr is still relatively young, and the continent remains wild and untamed.
The technological marvels of the Asura and Charr still lie far in the future, and in Guild Wars 3 you will be seeing none of the impressive machinery and technology of the previous games. Loremasters of the series will realize that even Magic itself will be a rarity among mortal Tyrians – neither the Exodus of the Gods nor Abaddon gifting magic to the races of Tyria have happened yet. While Orr itself is steeped in magical energies, mortals were never able to wield it.
This means that Guild Wars 3 will be much more traditional high fantasy than what we’re used to from the first two games, and magic users will be few and far between. While the gods always had the ability to grant magic to special individuals, they never did so until the founding of the Vaelwardens.
The Order of the Vael
Players will be starting their journey as part of the oldest guild in Orr: The Vaelwardens. The arrival of humans from the Mists caused great damage to Orr’s magical ecology, and the Vael – magical and ancient spirits – have suffered great losses. Some of the human gods took pity on these creatures, and sanctioned a few allies to safeguard and protect these creatures, and Orr as a whole.
This marked the first time that mortals were granted the gift of magic by the gods. The gods taught the Vaelwardens how to craft signets that could be used to wield the magic that was flowing all throughout Orr. Unfortunately, over the last ~150 years since mankind’s arrival in Orr, the order has fallen into disarray and obscurity. Among the ever-growing settlements and residents, Vaelwardens are now seen as zealots of a forgotten age, and their cause is widely deemed pointless and lost.
In Guild Wars 3, players will pick up the banner of the Vaelwardens in an attempt to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Their ancient charge is to protect the Vael, prevent further suffering, and put a stop to the machinations of those who seek to destroy and industrialize the lands.
Movement Is a Core Part of Combat
While the game begins roughly 150 or so years after humans arrived on Orr, many areas of the land are still wild and untamed. Exploring therefore becomes a big part of your journey into Guild Wars 3, and ArenaNet have put a lot of emphasis on traversing and moving both in and outside of combat. You can climb, mantle, and run along walls, glide across clefts and crevices, and of course mounts also play a big role when travelling across the lands. While we were not given many specifics on mounts just yet, based on what we were shown, it appears that some of the Vael might allow you to ride them once you’ve earned their trust.
One of the key features that we were shown at Gamescom is the game’s emphasis on “Momentum“. Moving in any way in Guild Wars 3 generates momentum, and the faster you move, the more momentum you generate. This momentum carries forward into whatever skill, ability, or movement you use next, and it is a very seamless and smooth experience from what we’ve seen. Charging forward and jumping will greatly enhance how far you can jump and glide, and weaving multiple movement abilities together not only looks incredibly satisfying, but also lets you travel large distances much, much faster than just pressing W would.
Momentum matters not only for movement, but also for combat. Certain skills can deal bonus damage depending on how much momentum you have, like some charge or lunge attacks, provided you weave skills together properly. You will also be able to knock enemies back or down, and even some of the larger enemies that are typically immune to knockbacks may be susceptible to getting forcefully moved if players somehow manage to generate enough momentum.
Combos and Combat Environments
Knockbacks also interface nicely with the environments themselves. Knocking enemies into walls may lead to a short stagger or stun, and you might even be able to knock enemies off of ledges for bonus damage or instant kills. But you better be careful, as players are subject to the same rules. After getting hit by a big knockback, you may quickly find yourself bashed into a wall, or dead at the bottom of the abyss.
Players are also encouraged to combo with each other, and we’ve seen some of that in action during our Gamescom showcase. A warrior can lift their shield to serve as a springboard for another player, so they can use the height for a powerful lunge attack. And dragging a few trash mobs to the edge of the combat area might allow the rest of the party to instantly knock them to their death.
Situations like these make it clear to us that Guild Wars 3 shouldn’t just be seen as another game where players perform a DPS rotation against an enemy health bar, but that positioning, movement, playing around Momentum, and interactions with other players and the environment play an integral part in the Guild Wars 3 combat experience.
Guild Wars 3 is also borrowing some of the combo gameplay from Guild Wars 2. We were told that many skills interact with one another, and also with the environment. We were shown an area infested with spiders, webbing up players to slow them to a crawl – and remember, this too will affect Momentum! However, with a proper loadout, the duo was able to deal with them swiftly. One of the players was able to imbue the party’s weapons with fire, which was then used to burn away the webs, and deal extra damage to the enemies to boot. We were told to expect many such combos, although it wasn’t quite clear yet how similar this system will end up being to Guild Wars 2 and its Combo finisher system.
Classes, Loadouts, and the Holy Trinity
The MMO Holy Trinity is the separation of classes/players into clear roles: Tank, Healer, and DPS. While Guild Wars 2 purposefully stepped away from these defined roles that form the core of many other MMOs, Guild Wars 3 promises to return to a more stereotypical trinity-esque class design. Of course not every Warrior will automatically be a tank, but depending on how players build their character, they will be able to fill more recognizable roles again. There was even a possible mention of a Necromancer tanking by using their minions… Curious!
Beyond the Warrior and Necromancer gameplay we’ve been shown (and boy does a scythe-wielding Necromancer look sick), the only other confirmed class that was spoken of is Ranger. Unfortunately, we have no idea what it looks like or how it plays just yet. What we do know is that the game uses a regular aggro or threat system, so tanking will once again be based on threat, not whoever has the highest Toughness.
Guild Wars 3 also promises to return to GW1’s build and loadout preparation. Players will be setting their skills (and Elite skill!) in advance, from a wide selection of choices. While we do not know the specifics on this just yet, we could see this nicely tying into the actual story itself, as the Vaelwardens are able to create signets to use magic. Maybe players will be collecting signets as they journey through Orr, unlocking more and more skills which they can then pick and choose to prepare for whatever dungeon or enemy they expect to face?
We could see this nicely tying into the roles as well, and while it wasn’t shown to us or confirmed in any way, we can definitely see how ArenaNet might design a variety of skills that support different themes for each of the classes, like Minions or damage over time skills for a Necromancer. There will also be Elite Skills once again, although this time around it sounded like they were not on a cooldown timer, but instead charged up during battle instead.
Designing for Console and Controller
When talking about the game, Colin and Kevin spoke about how the design approach had to shift in order for them to bring the Guild Wars experience to consoles for the first time in the franchise’s history. Certain elements of game design naturally have to be adjusted to make a game work on both console and PC, and one such example would be the design of the UI.
While players can rely on mouseover tooltips for additional information on things such as buffs or debuffs, players won’t be able to do so on console. Gamepad-controlled interfaces cannot easily hover over UI elements like players on PC can, so dangerous debuffs or status effect information needs to be conveyed in a different manner, instead of just relying on players hovering over a tooltip. The same applies to the control scheme itself. Naturally, keyboards let players use a lot of different hotkeys, but the team felt that designing for controller allowed them to narrow their focus to make each button feel more meaningful to press.
Colin and Kevin spoke with a lot of confidence when they said that these priorities led them to design a better and cleaner game, and from what we’ve seen, it is hard not to have faith in their ability to deliver on those promises. Guild Wars never had a lot of button bloat to begin with, so we don’t expect the game to feel dramatically different as a result of the console switch here. As for the UI worries that some people might have, the UI we’ve seen looked very slick and minimalistic, which will allow the team from ArenaNet to focus more on visual effects that really stand out to convey important status information, without having to rely on a mouse-over tooltip telling you that you are taking exactly 627 fire damage every 1.8 seconds.
Guild Wars 3 and How It Compares to Its Prequels
During the time with ArenaNet, we also had the opportunity to discuss a few other aspects, to see where the team wants to lean closer to Guild Wars 1 or 2. It is clear that GW3 is meant to be a modernized middle-ground in some way, and players who are familiar with at least one of their previous titles will quickly feel at home with Guild Wars 3.
The world itself will be open, with towns serving as hubs where many players congregate. Beyond the fringes of towns or Vaelwarden Camps, you may end up seeing fewer players than inside a town, and we suspect that some sort of sharding technology might be used here. It is definitely not the same kind of instanced non-hub content Guild Wars 1 had, though, and as you explore Orr, you will come across many friendly (or possibly not-so-friendly) players.
The game as a whole is said to have very few loading screens, as seamless movement and transitions across zones are very important for the team. World PvP is also less of a priority for the team, especially the large-scale WvW battles of Guild Wars 2.
The Guild Wars 2 gliding will make a return in some form as one type of movement in Guild Wars 3, and so will mounts. Meanwhile, the class and character building system seems more reminiscent of Guild Wars 1, with players selecting their skills ahead of time, and being unable to change them during combat.
ArenaNet’s Meaningfully Multiplayer Online Philosophy
Speaking to Colin at Gamescom, we asked what led to the decision to make a new game, instead of further expanding their existing titles. Colin assured us that both Guild Wars 1 and 2 will continue receiving attention and updates of course, and Guild Wars 3 will not be replacing either title.
The team looked at all the MMOs coming out of Asia in recent years, and how the western market hasn’t had a big MMO launch in quite some time, so they felt like it was time to go back to the drawing board, collect all the ideas from their previous titles that had to be scrapped for one reason or another, and make a new game. The goal is to expand the Guild Wars franchise while bringing a modern and fresh take on the genre to players on both PC and console, a “Meaningfully Multiplayer Online” experience.
Watching Colin and Kevin play through their demo, we can definitely see this approach in many aspects of the game’s design. The verticality of the world itself and how impactful movement feels puts a lot of emphasis on the different forms of movement, with players getting to move in whichever way they prefer. The world itself is vast and seamless, and the multiplayer experience isn’t just about having a bunch of people run around in the same area or place.
Instead, players are encouraged to interact with one another both in and outside of combat, with the combat experience itself relying heavily on utilizing enemy weak points, environmental interactions, and positioning. Coordinating attacks with multiple players and the combo gameplay itself also lead to more meaningful interactions between players, which makes it feel like there is a lot of intent behind everything the player can do.
Truly, a meaningful multiplayer experience.
A Different, Yet Familiar, Guild Wars
Having played both Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 myself, watching Colin and Kevin play through the demo and talk about the game I couldn’t help but get swept up in their enthusiasm for it. Not that I wasn’t already super excited for it, but I could clearly see a lot of inspiration being taken from both of their previous games, and I have always been a big fan of the original Guild Wars experience. Guild Wars 3 promises to take some of the best parts of the previous titles, and combine them into a familiar yet fresh version of what a modern western MMO could be like by introducing new systems that make it more dynamic to play.
While we do not know much about the other classes, skill system, endgame, monetization, or life-skill systems, what we’ve been shown strikes us as a very strong foundation. What we’ve seen so far suggests that Guild Wars 3 will not only appeal to existing players of the previous game, but could capture the attention of newcomers to the MMO genre who are looking for a fresh take on what a western MMO could look like.
We can’t wait for more announcements on the game in the near future, and hope you’re just as excited as we are for this next journey into Tyria.