ArenaNet and NCSOFT announced Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds, the fifth expansion for the award-winning and critically acclaimed MMORPG Guild Wars 2. Releasing on August 20, 2024, the expansion will introduce a suite of new features long-requested by fans beginning with Homesteads, the most player-friendly housing system in an MMORPG. With a brand new customization and decorating interface, heroes can create and adorn their very own housing space for their friends and guildmates. New weapons and mount skills welcome adventurers to the uncharted, prim prim prim prim prim prim primordial region of Janthir, be it by taking hold of a spear, a new character terrestrial weapon type, or by hopping into the saddle of the enhanced Warclaw mount, further enriching the subscription-free online world of one of the most enduring and beloved PC games of all time.

Janthir Wilds will go on sale for $24.99 and, like its predecessor Secrets of the Obscure?, have three planned major updates scheduled for release between August 2024 and the summer of 2025. Launch day will see two new maps set among the deltas and islands of Janthir's untamed wilderness, including the Lowland Shore, home to the Lowland Kodan, and the Janthir Syntri with its dangerous rocky shores, wandering titans, and mystic storms. To assist in exploring these new lands, players will learn to tame feral Warclaws; previously occupying a specialist role in the World-vs-World game mode, the Warclaws of the Lowland Kodan will allow players to hop in the saddle and explore Janthir, developing the steed's special abilities to add more movement and traversal opportunities to Guild Wars 2's widely-acclaimed roster of player mounts. For the first time since launch, a new weapon type will be added for terrestrial combat.

The two-handed spear will become available to all nine of the game's professions. Each profession will use their spear differently, be it ranged or melee, and provide a multitude of new skills to further enhance player skill customization and game builds. The three planned major future updates will launch at no additional charge and continue to add new experiences: an additional map, a new Raid, new rewards (including new earnable items in the Wizard's Vault), and a new PvP game mode will arrive in the following months and into 2025.

The expansion's all-new story begins in the wake of the events of Secrets of the Obscure. Anyone with a Guild Wars 2 account can partake in a beta to try out the new spear gameplay from June 27-30. New and improved Warclaw: Bursting from the World-vs-World games mode, the Warclaw will join player mount stations as a new option for exploring the mountains and river valleys of Janthir, using its unique double-jump ability to navigate tough terrain.

New Raid: For the first time since 2019, a new raid will play host to some of Janthir Wilds' toughest encounters, challenging 10-player groups with epic boss battles; both the raid and its more difficult Challenge Mode will be added in a follow-up release. Titans: The mysterious magical entities of Janthir channel the energy from the very land itself, a mystic andineffable enigma in this unexplored region of Tyria. The Deluxe Edition ($49.99) comes with the standard edition bundle, plus another batch of exclusive items: the Wayfinder's Versatile Table, a set of Eldritch Gathering Tools, an additional character slot, and an Identity Repair Kit.

The Janthir Wilds Ultimate Edition ($74.99) includes the exclusive Standard and Deluxe Edition items, plus 4,000 Gems, Guild Wars 2's premium in-game store currency. Along with the new expansions, Guild Wars 2 and all 12 years of its associated content will arrive on the Epic Game Store for the first time later this summer.