New Guild Wars 2 Expansion To Be Playable At PAX East

Those who attend PAX East will be among the first to get their hands on the upcoming expansion for one of the more popular MMOs on the market today. Announced yesterday at PAX South, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will be available for attendees to play at the upcoming expo in Boston.

According to an interview with Polygon, game director Colin Johanson revealed the game will be gracing the floor of PAX East, which is only about six weeks away. After the initial test on the PAX East floor, Johanson hinted at a beta to help the game move closer to its mysterious release date.

“Of course, the question on everybody’s mind is when it’s going to get released,” Johanson said. “It’s going to get released when beta testing says it’s ready to get released. We want to involve our players in that. It’ll be a process of beta testing the game and making sure that this fundamental groundwork that we’re laying is the groundwork that we want to build on top of growing forward.”

As detailed previously by the Inquisitr, players of ArenaNet’s flagship title have expressed disappointment with the game recently. Heart of Thorns brings to the table new lands, professions and player progression, in addition to a few other enhancements.

Those lucky among us to test out the expansion at PAX East shouldn’t expect a full formed game to that point. Without a release date in sight, it’s logical to think the MMO on display will be a narrow vertical slice designed to give the devs as much feedback while keeping the content easily consumable. Still, while PAX isn’t known for being a hotspot for gaming industry “firsts” (normally those are saved for E3), it’s exciting to see a company like ArenaNet putting all their cards on the table for players to evaluate.

PAX East will also be home to the Guild Wars 2 World Tournament Championship Series. Teams of PVPers will vie for a chance to win $50,000 in cash prizes at Boston’s gaming con. PAX has been home to many Guild Wars tournaments, with Seattle’s Prime hosting many of them in years’ past.

Established in 2010, PAX East has grown into one of the world’s premiere gaming expos, normally with passes to the event selling out within hours. PAX East will take place from March 6-8 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC).

Are you going to PAX East? Let us know what you are most looking forward to in the comments!

[Images via Guild Wars 2]