Players Create More than 200,000 Accounts to Play the Five-Day E3 Demo
Seattle, WA, May 20, 2004 — The Guild WarsTM E3 for Everyone event, held in conjunction with this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), received a massive response, according to NCsoft® and ArenaNetTM. Gamers worldwide created more than 200,000 accounts to play the demo during its five-day run. The unprecedented experience allowed gamers at home to play the Guild Wars demo with and against people on the E3 show floor.
The scale of player response made the Guild Wars demo one of the five largest online games in North America and one of the ten largest online games in the world during the time that E3 for Everyone was taking place.
In opening the experience to the public, ArenaNet demonstrated two significant technologies for Guild Wars. The first was the stability of their servers, which supported tens of thousands of concurrent gamers without a hitch. The second was the fact that everyone had a chance to witness ArenaNet's streaming technology. On the final day of the show ArenaNet introduced a dramatic new in-game event as an example of how they will provide frequent content updates without patching and without charging a monthly fee.
"To have gamers react to Guild Wars in such numbers is simply phenomenal," noted co-founder Jeff Strain. "It confirms that our core product beliefs - offering a first class online game with no monthly fees, rewarding player skill more than time played, and focusing gameplay on activities players enjoy - truly give gamers what they want. The early demo has inspired such terrific feedback and suggestions that we can't wait until gamers experience the complete game we are building for them."
Looking forward, members of the ArenaNet development team confirm that Guild Wars is on track for release in the 2nd half of 2004 and that they are planning additional public Guild Wars events in the coming months.
More information about Guild Wars can be found at http://www.guildwars.com.
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft® Corporation. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's first title, Guild Wars, is a global online roleplaying game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world. The novel business model, which requires no subscription fees and emphasizes instant action rather than time spent playing, has undoubtedly contributed to the huge commercial success of Guild Wars. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NCsoft Corporation is the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. Founded in 1997, NCsoft is home to Lineage®, the world's most successful online role playing game. NCsoft has joint venture offices located in Japan, Taiwan, and China, as well as branches in North America and the United Kingdom. In fiscal year 2004, NCsoft posted revenues of KRW (Korean Won) 246 billion or approximately US$246 million. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.ncsoft.net