In a world where subscription-free games are increasingly common in genres where the monthly fee once ruled, Guild Wars 2 is one the crown jewels. The MMORPG is a fantastic title, a fully featured experience that doesn't force in-game purchases on players. Now, it's coming to the world's most populous nation with a beta starting on March 11 reports Polygon.
China is getting the fantasy MMO under the same subscription-fee model in place in North America and Europe, and like those regions will have to pay for the initial cost of the game itself. Having to pay for the game is something that separates Guild Wars 2 from truly free-to-play games, but given the depth of the game's content, I'd say it's a fair price to pay.
China does not often get Western titles released within its borders. In fact, the Chinese government only recently lifted the ban on foreign game consoles in Shanghai, which usually sees a lot of domestic knockoffs of the major consoles on sale in the rest of the world.
Games are partially limited to domestic creations as well, such as the very popular Chinese free-to-play MMO Perfect World. World of Warcraft was released in China a year after its North American release, with certain images censored by the government. China's video game industry was a $13 billion market last year.
Guild Wars 2 is available for PC for $59.99, though discounts can almost always be found. It was released in 2012 by developer ArenaNet and publisher NCsoft.