MMOs Have “Stagnated,” Guild Wars 3 Studio Head Says
Overview & Key Takeaways
Guild Wars 3 developer ArenaNet wants to try "wild, crazy ideas" in a genre that, according to its studio head, has "stagnated" in recent years.
During a hands-off demo where early Guild Wars 3 gameplay was shown to members of the press, I asked ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson about the state of the MMO genre in 2026 and what problems Guild Wars 3 is looking to solve.
He had plenty to say on the subject. Many MMO players are still playing the same games they were 10-20 years ago, Johanson said, citing decade-old (or older) examples like World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 14, and, of course, ArenaNet's own Guild Wars 2. In that same time, "minute-to-minute gameplay in MMOs has stagnated," even as other genres have modernized and become more approachable, he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITPzxITngqA
That's "really good timing" for ArenaNet and Guild Wars 3, Johanson said, and one that presents a big opportunity for a new game to break in and shake up the scene.
"There's been very little new in the last decade, and a lot of those [newer] games either don't exist anymore or were canceled in development before they made their way out," Johanson said. "We see MMO fans constantly clamoring for and asking for something new and saying this genre desperately needs something new to move it forward right now."
Johanson certainly has a point. The biggest new MMOs of the last few years have been games like 2021's New World or Korean MMOs like Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty, all originally tied to Amazon's game publishing arm. If nothing else, their launches showed how hungry MMO players are for a big new game in the space, with each title attracting hundreds of thousands of concurrent players in their first weeks, or in the case of Lost Ark, over 1.3 million.
Flash forward to now, and Amazon is pulling out of the MMO business entirely and shutting New World down. Other prospective MMOs fans were eager to learn more about have also languished. Riot's planned League of Legends MMO went back to the drawing board in 2024 after years of development, even as the former executive producer of that project's next new MMO also got canceled. ESO is being scaled back amidst layoffs, with a sci-fi MMO codenamed Project Blackbird from the same studio getting canceled before ever being officially announced. Another promising MMO that raised $3 million onKickstarter, Ashes of Creation, imploded earlier this year following the resignation of its game director and an ongoing legal battle.
It's a grim state of affairs for MMO fans, but Johanson said there is an opportunity to make a MMO that looks to solve the genre's approachability problem and overcome the perception they are "second jobs" many players don't have time for. For him, that means making a game where meaningful progress can be made in shorter play sessions, you can play with a controller, and prep time is massively cut down.
"For many gamers today, where we have so many different games to pick from and our time is more challenged than ever in how much time we have to play any individual game, if you don't have a couple of hours available, you're just not going to play an MMO and you're going to play other genres that are more approachable and can be played in quicker sessions," Johanson said.
He said it also means designing a MMO where it's okay to have a "healthy relationship" with the game, one where players can take breaks between expansions and not feel like they've been completely left behind. Being more approachable is about more than just attracting a wider audience, he said. It's also about making it more approachable for MMO fans who have busy real-life schedules and more game options than ever before.
"You can set this game down and go play a bunch of other games and come back when the next expansion comes out and that's okay," Johanson said. "That's a totally healthy relationship to have with a game, and we don't need to demand that you be in this game 24/7 to stay relevant and to stay up with everybody else."
Johanson's comments line up with a blog post he penned shortly after Guild Wars 3 was announced. In it, he said the goal is to make a game that respects players' time and investment and can be enjoyed by those who only have a few hours a week to play. In that same blog, Johanson said Guild Wars 3 won't have a subscription fee, nor what he described as "hidden" subscriptions like battle passes.
Guild Wars 3 doesn't currently have a release date but will release for PC and PlayStation 5. A beta is slated to begin Fall 2027.
Guild Wars 3 developer ArenaNet wants to try “wild, crazy ideas” in a genre that, according to its studio head, has “stagnated” in recent years.
During a hands-off demo where early Guild Wars 3 gameplay was shown to members of the press, I asked ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson about the state of the MMO genre in 2026 and what problems Guild Wars 3 is looking to solve.
He had plenty to say on the subject. Many MMO players are still playing the same games they were 10-20 years ago, Johanson said, citing decade-old (or older) examples like World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 14, and, of course, ArenaNet’s own Guild Wars 2. In that same time, “minute-to-minute gameplay in MMOs has stagnated,” even as other genres have modernized and become more approachable, he said.
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That’s “really good timing” for ArenaNet and Guild Wars 3, Johanson said, and one that presents a big opportunity for a new game to break in and shake up the scene.
“There’s been very little new in the last decade, and a lot of those [newer] games either don’t exist anymore or were canceled in development before they made their way out,” Johanson said. “We see MMO fans constantly clamoring for and asking for something new and saying this genre desperately needs something new to move it forward right now.”
Johanson certainly has a point. The biggest new MMOs of the last few years have been games like 2021’s New World or Korean MMOs like Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty, all originally tied to Amazon’s game publishing arm. If nothing else, their launches showed how hungry MMO players are for a big new game in the space, with each title attracting hundreds of thousands of concurrent players in their first weeks, or in the case of Lost Ark, over 1.3 million.
Flash forward to now, and Amazon is pulling out of the MMO business entirely and shutting New World down. Other prospective MMOs fans were eager to learn more about have also languished. Riot’s planned League of Legends MMO went back to the drawing board in 2024 after years of development, even as the former executive producer of that project’s next new MMO also got canceled. ESO is being scaled back amidst layoffs, with a sci-fi MMO codenamed Project Blackbird from the same studio getting canceled before ever being officially announced. Another promising MMO that raised $3 million onKickstarter, Ashes of Creation, imploded earlier this year following the resignation of its game director and an ongoing legal battle.
It’s a grim state of affairs for MMO fans, but Johanson said there is an opportunity to make a MMO that looks to solve the genre’s approachability problem and overcome the perception they are “second jobs” many players don’t have time for. For him, that means making a game where meaningful progress can be made in shorter play sessions, you can play with a controller, and prep time is massively cut down.
“For many gamers today, where we have so many different games to pick from and our time is more challenged than ever in how much time we have to play any individual game, if you don’t have a couple of hours available, you’re just not going to play an MMO and you’re going to play other genres that are more approachable and can be played in quicker sessions,” Johanson said.
He said it also means designing a MMO where it’s okay to have a “healthy relationship” with the game, one where players can take breaks between expansions and not feel like they’ve been completely left behind. Being more approachable is about more than just attracting a wider audience, he said. It’s also about making it more approachable for MMO fans who have busy real-life schedules and more game options than ever before.
“You can set this game down and go play a bunch of other games and come back when the next expansion comes out and that’s okay,” Johanson said. “That’s a totally healthy relationship to have with a game, and we don’t need to demand that you be in this game 24/7 to stay relevant and to stay up with everybody else.”
Johanson’s comments line up with a blog post he penned shortly after Guild Wars 3 was announced. In it, he said the goal is to make a game that respects players’ time and investment and can be enjoyed by those who only have a few hours a week to play. In that same blog, Johanson said Guild Wars 3 won’t have a subscription fee, nor what he described as “hidden” subscriptions like battle passes.
Guild Wars 3 doesn’t currently have a release date but will release for PC and PlayStation 5. A beta is slated to begin Fall 2027.
