NCSoft today officially announced Guild Wars: Factions, a new update to ArenaNet's online action RPG. Factions will add new regions, professions, skills, missions, and monsters to the game, while also offering enhanced guild features and new options for cooperative and PvP play. People will be able to preview Factions (due in the second quarter of this year) during the Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend, which will take place January 20 - 22.

The event will enable players to experience two new professions being introduced in the campaign, the Assassin and the Ritualist. Participants will also be able to try out a number of the skills added to Guild Wars: Factions, including some of the deadly skills of the Assassin and the arcane spells of the spiritual Ritualist. They will also be able to get familiar with the new PvP continent, Battle Isles. Battle Isles will introduce players to new PvP experiences, new and expanded arenas, new quests, and a new explorable area as well. Another feature available during the Guild Wars: Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend is Observer Mode, where players who aren’t participating in a battle can view the proceedings and check out the strategies and tactics used by top-ranked guilds as they fight for supremacy.