ArenaNet

ArenaNet is a video game development studio based in Bellevue, Washington, founded in 2000 by three former Blizzard Entertainment veterans. It builds premium multiplayer online worlds, and its stated mission is to demonstrate that games are art: mediums that communicate ideas, tell stories and change how people think. The company has grown from three founders to a team of hundreds.

Its flagship product, Guild Wars, is a subscription-free massively multiplayer online game set in the world of Tyria. It was launched as an alternative to the monthly-subscription model then standard for online play, and more than 21 million players have since journeyed through the game world. ArenaNet's stated priorities are innovation and player trust over prevailing industry norms, and its technical work spans Unreal Engine, lighting and atmosphere art, narrative design, online world systems design and interactive game network development.

The studio describes its culture as collaborative and player-focused, on the premise that the best experiences come from working together and that diverse perspectives produce better art. It places emphasis on hand-crafted excellence and creative passion, and holds that every system, story beat and pixel should serve the community. An anti-complacency ethos runs through the organisation: in the company's own terms, the status quo is never good enough.