AreaNet announced that starting right now, Guild Wars 2 base game would be free to play. Guild Wars 2 was originally a game which required a one-time purchase in order to play the game. It did not use any form of subscription fee.

This announcement was delivered by ArenaNet co-founder Mike O’Brien and Guild Wars 2 game director Colin Johanson at a fan event at PAX Prime. When questioned about why Guild Wars 2 went free-to-play, O’Brien had this to say.

“In making Guild Wars 2 free, we’re not switching business models to a traditional free-to-play game, and we’re not aggressively monetising free players through microtransactions. We’re making the base game free because we’re confident that anyone who loves Guild Wars 2 will consider buying Heart of Thorns, continuing their experience into the expansion and beyond with Living World and our newly announced raids.”

This is the perfect time for new players to join the wonderful world of Guild Wars 2, now it is free it allows those who were previously on the fence about the title to indulge themselves in this expansive universe.

Since the core game’s release in mid-2012, the game has received numerous updates to add more content to the main game and to keep players entertained. This means new players who have just started the game will have plenty of content to catch up on.

Another reason to start now is to prepare yourselves for the first major expansion pack for Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns. This expansion pack promises to add plenty more content, new story and more raids to the already massive title.

Guild Wars 2 can now be downloaded for free at this website.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is released on PC, October 23rd 2015. Heart of Thorns will be a one time purchase, similar to how the base game operated.