ArenaNet



ArenaNet is the development studio that makes Guild Wars. Their mission is to "create a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and design premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players." ArenaNet (or, more commonly, ANet)is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft, the Korean publishers of other MMORPGs such as City of Heroes and Lineage 2.

History
ArenaNet was founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain. All three came from Blizzard Entertainment and were previously involved in the development of multiplayer online games such as Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, World of Warcraft and the Battle.net gaming network.

ArenaNet was acquired by NCsoft in 2002.

Staff
Over the years, ArenaNet has grown to 100+ employees. Besides the three founders, there are several other staff members "visible" to the community (e.g., Regina Buenaobra, Gaile Gray, Andrew Patrick, and Isaiah Cartwright). A full list of the ArenaNet team can be found on their website (see external links).

Trivia

 * ANet is headquartered in the United States, in Bellevue, Washington.
 * Originally, O'Brian/Wyatt/Strain called their new company, Triforge; it was changed to "ArenaNet" shortly after its founding.