According to Forbes, Guild Wars Reforged, a modernization of the 20-year-old MMO, has led to an explosive resurgence for the classic game. Game Director Stephen Clarke-Willson revealed that compared to the weeks before launch, the project saw an “over 16000% increase in overall unit sales” and a “5x increase in concurrent players.” The effort, a collaboration between developer ArenaNet and support studio 2weeks, focused on modernizing infrastructure, adding full controller and Steam Deck support, and implementing 4K visuals without remaking the core game. Key figures involved include Clarke-Willson, Producer Mike Zadorojny, and 2weeks co-founder Brandon Dillon. The project was born from an internal 2023 proposal and a coincidental outreach from 2weeks, a studio comprised of many ArenaNet alumni.
The Non-Remaster Remaster
Here’s the thing that’s really interesting about this whole endeavor. They’re explicitly not calling it a remaster. Clarke-Willson says that term is “loaded” and implies a ground-up visual rebuild in a new engine, which this absolutely is not. So what is it? Basically, it’s a massive plumbing job. They’ve been rewiring two decades of legacy code to make the UI more flexible and the backend more stable, all while trying to make the game feel at home on a couch with a controller or a Steam Deck in your hands.
And that’s a far more radical, and arguably more sustainable, approach than a flashy remaster. It’s not about chasing nostalgia with shiny new graphics that might alienate the existing, deeply passionate community. It’s about removing friction. Think about it: how many classic online games just… vanish? This is the opposite. It’s a statement that this game, as it was designed, still has value. They’re just building a better door for new players to walk through.
The Non-Negotiables and The Jump Button
So where did they draw the line? The interview makes it clear that the sacred cows were the core gameplay pillars: the instanced world, the deep skill system and buildcraft, and the overall combat feel. Brandon Dillon from 2weeks said their goal was to “recreate the experience of playing the game in the early 00’s in a modern context.” That’s a fascinating tightrope to walk.
And it leads to the perfect, almost joking question: why not add a jump button? The answers are telling. Zadorojny gave the practical reason—the game’s geometry and creature pathing were never designed for verticality, and retrofitting it would be a nightmare with unintended consequences. But Clarke-Willson’s answer was the philosophical one: “You can type ‘/jump’ anytime!” It’s a cheeky way of saying, “That’s not what this game is.” And Dillon nailed it: “ArenaNet already made a whole second game for that!” He’s talking about Guild Wars 2, of course. This commitment to preservation, even of its limitations, is what makes Reforged feel authentic and not just a cynical cash-in.
The Controller Conundrum
Arguably the biggest technical lift was adding full controller and Steam Deck support to a dense, PC-native MMO from 2005. Richard Foge from 2weeks didn’t sugarcoat it: targeting was a “huge challenge.” They went through months of iteration because you simply can’t map a hundred keyboard commands to a gamepad. Their solution was smart—focus on perfecting the core combat and interaction loops, and then build a “controller cursor” system for the myriad menus and interfaces that still need pointer precision.
What’s cool is that this wasn’t just a top-down mandate. Clarke-Willson mentions his son Sam built a functional Steam Deck control scheme using Steam’s own tools as a prototype. That grassroots proof-of-concept likely helped greenlight the professional effort. Now, they’re seeing players who prefer the controller, which completely changes the context of how and where you can play a game like this. That’s a huge win for accessibility and longevity.
A Blueprint for Aging Online Worlds?
Look, the insane 16,000% sales spike is probably a short-term anniversary bubble. But the 5x concurrent player bump? That suggests something more lasting. This project shows there’s a viable third path between letting a game slowly die and gambling millions on a risky remake. It’s the “care-taking” model Clarke-Willson mentions. You fix latency bugs, you fight bots, you update the logging systems, and then you partner with a trusted, passionate team to expand the platform footprint.
The real test will be what comes next. They’ve built this new, more flexible technical foundation. Will they use it to iterate with new quality-of-life features or even small content updates? Or does this just freeze the game in a healthier, more accessible state? I think the community’s massive response is a pretty clear signal. In a world where online game preservation is a real crisis, Guild Wars Reforged isn’t just a celebration. It feels like a quietly revolutionary act of respect.
