arena network established Dramatically reduce the number of interface elements in the upcoming MMORPG Guild Wars 3. Studio head Colin Johanson showed off an early version of the game during a demo at Gamescom, explaining that the minimalist interface was not only tied to the desire to free up the screen, but also the game’s release on consoles.
Johansson said the current version of the interface is still changing during development, but the team is making a conscious effort to make it significantly less content-rich. In traditional MMORPGs such as “World of Warcraft” and “Final Fantasy XIV”, players often see job columns, buff and debuff icons, skill columns, and other elements. Guild Wars 3 needs to reduce the use of these blocks to focus on the combat and the world around us.
Developers consider controller-based control. On consoles, players can’t hover over an icon and read its description, so ArenaNet wants to bring more information directly into the game world.
“We did this intentionally, firstly, because the game will also launch on consoles and is designed to be in a relaxed format where you can’t hover over the icons and read everything. We wanted to create an experience that didn’t require a lot of information in the interface. Secondly, we believe combat will be better like this because players will be able to see more of what’s going on in the world,” the studio head explained.
Johnson cited cold attacks as an example. Instead of having several identical debuff icons appear on the screen, the effect will gradually appear on the enemy. Guild Wars 3 features a multiplayer combo system, with most classes able to use Chill in their builds. If multiple players start stacking this effect on an enemy, their animations will slow down and their bodies will be covered in ice. Accumulate enough, and depending on the size of the enemy, he will be completely frozen, turning into a block of ice.
“It all happens in the world, rather than being displayed as a little icon at the bottom of the screen that just tells you whether the enemy is frozen,” Johnson noted.
According to the person in charge of ArenaNet, during the testing process, players began to monitor the battle itself more instead of staring at the interface. The limitations of the controller also prompted the team to create a new combat system that the developers hope will be comfortable not only on the console, but also when playing with a mouse and keyboard.
Guild Wars 3 is under active development. Beta testing is planned for fall 2027.
