The original Guild Wars is getting its first new DLC in almost two decades. Guild Wars Afterlife arrives on January 13, 2027 on PC, Steam, the Apple App Store and Google Play. Prepurchase is open now at a discounted 23.99 USD/EUR, though the exact price can vary by platform and region. At launch it goes back to its standard price of 29.99 USD/EUR. Players need Guild Wars Reforged to play it.
Prepurchasing also unlocks a bonus straight away: the ancestral-themed Vestments of the Order costume.
Afterlife follows a busy year for the 21-year-old game. With help from partner 2weeks, ArenaNet released Guild Wars Reforged, which brought regular content updates, a new dungeon and the game’s first release on mobile.
A dungeon that changes every run
The expansion takes adventurers to Xotecha, an isle deep in the Mists. There, the Order of the Moonless Night looks after the Unformed, a jungle of shared dreams where spirits work through the regrets of their lives. Spirits that stay trapped in their pain for too long turn into Nightmares. Lost souls have recently been flooding in, a cult is interfering with the afterlife, and one of the Order’s elders has gone missing, so the Order asks for your help.
The Unformed itself is the heart of the DLC. It’s an ever-changing dungeon. Each run starts with a chosen loadout, then throws a different lineup of maps, encounters and bosses at the party. Along the way, a new skill-drafting system offers fresh abilities to pick from as you progress. These choices aren’t tied to your primary and secondary professions, so a skill bar can draw on any profession in Guild Wars.
Rewards, story and group play
Players bring their existing characters into Xotecha rather than starting new ones. Completing runs unlocks two kinds of rewards: upgrades that affect later dungeon runs, and permanent rewards that can be used outside Xotecha. The story also unfolds a piece at a time with each trip into the Unformed.
ArenaNet’s feature list includes:
- Skill-drafting combat with a custom skill bar for each run, using abilities from any profession
- A dynamic dungeon spanning jungles, cenotes and floating ruins
- A new story about the history of Xotecha and the Mists
- New allies and enemies, including Ancient Golems, Nightmares and the Cult of Odran
- Group play with friends or with henchmen
ArenaNet credits the community for making the project happen. Afterlife is the studio’s biggest addition to its first game since the original campaigns and expansions, and it brings a run-based format that Guild Wars hasn’t tried before.
Source: Guild Wars official news.
