Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet has been going through some challenging times, with a round of layoffs reportedly hitting mid-October. At the time, it was not made public what impact the layoffs would have on ArenaNet, Guild Wars 2, or the MMO's upcoming third expansion. Today, at least one unfortunate result has been announced. In August, it was announced that Guild Wars 2 would be released on Steam in November, but those plans have now been delayed indefinitely.
In a news piece shared from "The Guild Wars 2 Team," ArenaNet confirmed the Steam port has been placed on hold. No new release date was announced for the Guild Wars 2 Steam release, nor was there any reassurance that the Steam release would be completed eventually. For the foreseeable future, Guild Wars 2 will remain accessible only through ArenaNet's proprietary launcher.
ArenaNet does explain why it's placing the Steam release on hold. It says that it's focused on completing the End of Dragons expansion for Guild Wars 2 at "the high quality you expect and deserve." This expansion is described as ArenaNet's highest priority, which makes it clear that the Steam release is not a priority in comparison. ArenaNet does say that it's also working on the conclusion of Guild Wars 2's current Living Story, The Icebrood Saga: Champions, too.
The article ends with the promise that ArenaNet will share a new trailer for The Icebrood Saga's next chapter this upcoming week. The first chapter of the Icebrood Saga: Champions story arc will be revealed on Thursday, November 5. From there, The Icebrood Saga will continue to roll out as the release of End of Dragons in 2021 moves nearer. After that, it's difficult to guess what comes next for ArenaNet or Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2 is available now on PC.