Guild Wars World Preview Event Starts Friday

The full press release:

Guild Wars World Preview Event Starts Friday

Free global event offers sneak peek into the Guild Wars world

Bellevue,WASH., October 26, 2004 This weekend game players around the globe will have free access to Guild Wars®, one of the world’s most anticipated online role-playing games, as ArenaNet® and NCsoft® kick off the Guild Wars World Preview Event.

The free World Preview Event, which begins Friday evening, Oct. 29 and ends Sunday evening, Oct. 31, will allow players to explore two new game regions, play in an expanded international tournament and engage in combat on new competitive battlefields. For the first time game players will be able to create new guilds and experience guild warfare in the vibrant online environments of Guild Wars. To participate in the World Preview Event players can simply visit www.guildwars.com and download the free game client, which is approximately 90KB.

(The World Preview Event offers a unique opportunity for players to experience Guild Wars,) Jeff Strain, Guild Wars producer and ArenaNet co-founder said. (Inviting players to participate in an event of this proportion before beta is ground-breaking and it gives us the opportunity to show fans the beauty and innovation of Guild Wars.)

In large head-to-head guild battles, cooperative group combat and single-player missions, players explore a fantasy world and test their skills against chosen rivals. While Guild Wars offers a vast online world and the opportunity to play with thousands of players worldwide, players will not be required to pay a subscription fee.

The Guild Wars beta period will begin with the first Beta Weekend Event November 6-8. These exclusive events will take place on the first weekend of each month and will be open only to players who purchase the Guild Wars preorder box or obtain access to single events through ArenaNet’s programs with leading game magazines and websites, iGames game centers or select retailers. Each Beta Weekend Event will feature new content and offer exciting new challenges in the Guild Wars world.

iGames, North America’s leading game center organization, will feature the Guild Wars World Preview Event in more than 125 game centers in Canada and the United States. Players who play Guild Wars in iGames game centers can compete for prizes from ATI and ArenaNet.

More information about Guild Wars, the October World Preview Event and Beta Weekend Events can be found at www.guildwars.com. ArenaNet and NCsoft plan to release Guild Wars in early 2005.

About ArenaNet
ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft and was founded by key members of the creative teams that developed the hit game series StarCraft, Warcraft, and Diablo as well as Battle.net. ArenaNet is building a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and developing premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.

About NCsoft Corporation
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 2003, NCsoft posted revenues of KRW (Korean Won) 166.5 billion or approximately US$143 million. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.ncsoft.net.