Guild Wars Factions #1 Game in Europe and North America
Massive early sales in Europe and North America, and rave reviews from fans and press prove Guild Wars Factions popularity
Tuesday 23 May 2006/... ArenaNet®, developer of the award-winning online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Europe, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announce today that the studio's latest release, Guild Wars FactionsTM, is now the top PC game in Europe and North America. In the UK, Chart-Track's weekly sales report showed Guild Wars Factions as the number one selling PC game for three consecutive weeks since its release on 28th April.
Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft Europe, said: "What has become increasingly obvious over the past year is that our policy of exploring new business models and pricing structures in the MMO space has proved to be a big hit with our player base, who have put the Guild Wars series at the top of the charts for the second year."
Guild Wars Factions was one of the year's most anticipated releases, and in its first few weeks out of the gate has wowed fans, press, and retail alike.
"5 stars out of 5 stars" - Sunday Times
"Guild Wars [...] brings the player in a wonderful world, really well done" - Le Figaro
"Guild Wars Factions swept me off my feet" - Gameswelt.de
"The popularity of MMOGs is on the rise and quickly becoming one of the strongest performing genres on the PC platform. From 2004 to 2005, usage of MMOGs grew nearly 29 percent, and that combined with the significant increase of sales at retail for these products illustrates the growing importance of this genre," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.
Guild Wars Factions takes place on the Asian-inspired continent of Cantha, where players create a character from eight distinct professions-including the newly created Assassin and Ritualist-and join an epic quest that pits two warring factions, the Luxons and the Kurzicks, against an ancient evil, and against each other. As players become embroiled in this brutal war of conquest, new missions provide both roleplaying fans and competitive PvP players the opportunity to help determine the fate of Cantha.
For more information, please visit http://eu.guildwars.com.
About ArenaNet
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 titles, Guild Wars and Guild Wars Factions, are global online roleplaying games that allow gamers to play with anyone, anytime, and anywhere in the world. More information about ArenaNet can be found at www.arena.net.
About NCsoft Europe
NCsoft Europe (NC-E) is headquartered in Brighton, England and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. NCsoft has already successfully established itself in North America, Japan, Taiwan, China and Thailand. NC-E began operations on 1st September 2004 and serves as a central hub for all NCsoft sales, marketing and distribution operations in Europe, via its European distribution network. NC-E currently services Auto Assault®, Lineage® II, City of HeroesTM, City of VillainsTM, Guild Wars® and Guild Wars FactionsTM in Europe. More information about NCsoft Europe can be found at http://www.plaync.com.
NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, PlayNC, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Prophecies, Factions, ArenaNet, Lineage, Auto Assault and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.