“The highly successful release of Guild Wars Factions has solidified the Guild Wars franchise as a mainstay with gamers,” says Bob McKenzie, Senior VP of Merchandising, GameStop, Inc. “As a top seller for GameStop and EBGames, we watch with high interest how this property continues to make a stronghold for itself in the marketplace.”

When the first installment in this award-winning series, Guild Wars, launched in April 2005, it revolutionized online gaming and was an instant bestseller worldwide. Not to be outdone, ArenaNet’s hotly anticipated Guild Wars Factions, released April 28, 2006, was the number one game in both North America and Europe for the month of May.

“ArenaNet continues to take chances in both game design and business model, and it’s great to have the fans respond so enthusiastically right out of the gate with Guild Wars Factions,” says Patrick Wyatt, co-founder of ArenaNet. “Our fans have been overwhelmingly supportive of Guild Wars, and we will continue to make the Guild Wars franchise bigger and better with each release.”

Guild Wars and Guild Wars Factions are global online roleplaying games in which players immerse themselves in a rich fantasy world, build personalized characters, compete in head-to-head battles with players from around the world, and find adventure in missions and quests. In the game that has captivated millions of players, more than 7000 guilds worldwide are currently competing in the Guild Wars Factions tournament season, the finalists of which will be flown to Leipzig, Germany in August to compete for more than $100,000 in cash and prizes. For complete tournament rules, please visit www.guildwars.com.

Guild Wars Factions is rated T for Teen.