Another developer has exited the Guild Wars 2 franchise: This time it’s Hugh Norfolk, whose final title with ArenaNet was Lead Systems Designer. Norfolk was an eight-year veteran of the studio and joins two other recent and public departees – including Chris Cleary and Jason Reynolds.
8 years of passion and growth. 8 Years part of an amazing community. 8 years of being part of a team that I call family. 8 Years is a good time to move on and grow again. The future is so bright for my family. On to my next adventure, but know I will be watching from afar. pic.twitter.com/EA58wRIYth
— Nightmare2450 (@Nightmare2450) February 8, 2020
As MMO readers will recall, a year ago ArenaNet was hit with heavy layoffs and a reorganization, followed with assurances that the game was secure. But over the course of 2019, we saw a steady stream of multiple additional devs (including studio head Mike O’Brien) moving on from the company (that we know of). Squabbles over content and monetization made the year one of ArenaNet’s worst from a confidence standpoint.
It’s not all gloom and doom, however – far from it. Recent entries in the living world saga have been fairly well-received, we just got a most welcome developer preview, and we know ArenaNet has other games up its sleeve once again.
