Guild Wars 2 development continues to soldier on at ArenaNet. The Icebrood Saga, Guild Wars 2's fifth Living Story season of DLC, is scheduled to begin rolling out mid-March. But ArenaNet apparently has bigger plans than just the continuing Living Story. This past week ArenaNet published a development update looking at the "spring, summer, and the future." The most exciting announcement, looking toward the "distant future," confirms that a new full expansion is in the works.
For now, ArenaNet isn't willing to share any information about the new expansion. Features, story, release date, and development timeline were all kept secret. What ArenaNet did share, however, is the first piece of concept art for the expansion. It features a bridge with Asian culture-inspired architecture and fauna around it. The image evokes a connection to the first Guild Wars game's Cantha region, but it isn't overt. Luckily, there's more information to consider.
On the official Guild Wars 2 website, there's an animated version of the concept art. The animation itself doesn't provide any further information, but the leaked filename of this animated image does. The filename includes the text "GW2-Home-Carousel-Shing-Jea"– Shing Jea being one of the regions known to be within Cantha.
In other words, while ArenaNet wasn't willing to explicitly say that the next Guild Wars 2 expansion will be going to Cantha, it's going to Cantha. It's entirely possible that just a small part of Cantha will be featured in the expansion. Of course, it's also possible that all of Cantha will be featured, from Kaineng Center to the Jade Sea.
It's also possible that whatever plans ArenaNet has right now will change over the coming months. With the next expansion being in the "distant future," then anything's possible. ArenaNet may even decide not to release an expansion, but to instead focus on continuing the Living Story.
Guild Wars 2 players have been wanting to go to Cantha for a very long time. The Factions expansion for the original Guild Wars may not have been the most well-received overall, but it was rich with story and lore. It's exciting to consider the potential storylines that will develop by revisiting Cantha after the time skip between the two MMOs.
Odds are Cantha will look dramatically different than Guild Wars fans remember, but because it's been so long since Cantha was made and more importantly there are reportedly internal issues. ArenaNet's Chinese ownership is said to not have wanted Canthan culture and architecture due to real-life cultural issues. It'll be interesting to find out more in the coming year.
Guild Wars 2 is available now on PC.