A Letter to Our Fans on GuildWars.com follows up on recent reports of a Guild Wars 2 delay, as ArenaNet's Mike O'Brien accurately points out that because the game has never had a set release date, it can't really be delayed, and since he is correct, we apologize for helping cause confusion in that regard. When the online RPG sequel was announced there were plans for a beta test in the second half of last year before testing was delayed, so there does seem to be an acknowledgement of fan disappointment that Guild Wars 2 won't be released this year (which is what the investor materials he refers to seem to indicate), but he wants it to be clear that recent changes at NC West will be to the game's benefit:

There have been some published rumors over the past few days about Guild Wars 2 delays, and I'm writing you today to set the record straight.

You've all seen announcements about restructuring at NCsoft West, and it's natural to wonder whether that restructuring impacts ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 development. In fact, the reason NCsoft West is restructuring itself is so that the company can put all of its focus into its top-tier games like Guild Wars 2. Our team continues to grow, and has the strong support and financial backing we need to achieve our goal of making Guild Wars 2 the best online role-playing game ever created.

On Friday, NCsoft released investor materials that showed a very broad release window for Guild Wars 2, with the explanation that release timing is still "to be announced." ArenaNet has never given a release date for Guild Wars 2 other than "when it's done." NCsoft's investor materials are a reflection of that philosophy.

I know some fans had hoped for a smaller gap between the launch of Guild Wars: Eye of the North and the start of beta testing for Guild Wars 2, but we communicated last summer that it would be some time before we could commit to any beta or launch dates. Guild Wars 2 is a large and ambitious game, and we're going to take the time to do it right.

I'm immensely proud of what our team has accomplished and continues to accomplish with the development of Guild Wars 2. We'll have a lot more to say when we're closer to release. Until then, we thank you for your continued interest and ask you to stay tuned.