ArenaNet has announced Guild Wars Afterlife, a paid expansion for the original Guild Wars that launches January 13, 2027 on PC, Steam, the App Store and Google Play. The last expansion was Eye of the North in 2007, and the announcement trailer calls this “the first new DLC in nearly 20 years.” It also isn’t more of the same: the Steam page pitches it as “an entirely new way to play Guild Wars.”
Your progression and inventory “evaporate” inside Afterlife’s dungeon
Afterlife is built around a dungeon that changes between runs, set in Xotecha, “a land long believed lost to time.” The trailer places it “deep in the land of the dead” and promises that “no two journeys are the same.” You bring your existing characters, but the Steam page says your “character progression and inventory evaporate in the Unformed Mists,” so veterans start without their usual advantages.
You draft a skill bar from any profession on every run
Instead of your usual build, you put together a custom skill bar for each run, using abilities from any profession. Rewards work on two levels: some affect future dungeon runs, and others are permanent and carry over outside Xotecha. You can run the dungeon with friends or with henchmen.
The story covers the history of Xotecha, with Ancient Golems, Nightmares and the Cult of Odran among those you meet along the way. The trailer and Steam page don’t say how long a run lasts or how much story there is.
Afterlife costs $29.99, or $23.99 if you prepurchase
- Price: $29.99 at launch, or $23.99 to prepurchase now. ArenaNet says the discounted price may vary by platform and location.
- Prepurchase bonus: the ancestral-themed Vestments of the Order costume, available today.
- Requirement: you need Guild Wars Reforged to play.
- Release date: January 13, 2027.
