ArenaNet President and Game Director Mike O’Brien told forumgoers this evening that Guild Wars 2 is planning to “indefinitely suspend” work on new legendary weapons in favor of “Living World-style content”:
Last year we talked about plans to gradually build out a second set of legendary weapons through live content updates. That’s a big responsibility. We have a team of six developers working on that, who could work on it for years to come.
As game director I have to make tough trade-offs. One thing I believe is that we have to focus on the core game first before taking on additional responsibilities. I wrote in the Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto in 2010 that our vision was to create a living, dynamic world, where there’s always something to do. Let’s ensure we succeed on that front.
So, after shipping Chuka and Champawat, I’ve asked that we indefinitely suspend work on new legendary weapons. This team of developers will instead shift their efforts back to Living World style content, building new journeys and events for everyone to participate in.
That means the Chuka and Champawat shortbow coming in the spring update might just be the game’s last legendary for the forseeable future. The new legendaries were widely considered a key feature of the Heart of Thorns expansion.
O’Brien took over as Game Director when Colin Johanson left the company last month.
