Europeans Love Guild Wars
Significant European presence for World Preview Event
Friday 5 November 2004/... Following on from the announcement made just yesterday that the Guild Wars® World Preview Event was a roaring success, a breakdown by developer ArenaNet® has revealed that 20% of the 400,000 people who took part did so from the comfort of their European homes. NCsoft® Europe has acknowledged that this is a significant statistic, bearing in mind the relative immaturity of the European MMO market.
Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft Europe, said: "This bodes well for the release of Guild Wars next year. With increased broadband penetration throughout Europe and the instant playability of the Guild Wars product, we believe that we have the potential to convert a new gaming audience to the MMO concept."
"This is excellent news, both for us and for the gamers involved," says Jeff Strain, Guild Wars producer and ArenaNet co-founder. "We designed Guild Wars to be as inclusive and accessible as possible, and support from such a wide range of nationalities shows that we have largely succeeded."
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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.
NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, Guild Wars, ArenaNet, Lineage, and all associated NCsoft logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. City of Heroes is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. and NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.