On Tuesday it was revealed that ArenaNet co-founder Jeff Strain had departed NCsoft for unknown reasons. Many sites, including ours, speculated on how this could affect ArenaNet's upcoming and long-in-development online RPG sequel Guild Wars 2. IncGames got a response from another ArenaNet co-founder, Mike O'Brien, which also gave a general status report on the game (the first real one in a long time).

In short, Strain's departure from NCsoft (as its President of Product Development) has not been a factor in Guild Wars 2's development. O'Brien states, "Jeff hasn't been involved in the day-to-day development of Guild Wars 2 since he left ArenaNet more than a year ago." He added, "I continue to lead ArenaNet, and I'm not going anywhere."

And what about Guild Wars 2, which was announced over two years ago? O'Brien states, "We have an amazing team here at ArenaNet, and we continue to work hard on Guild Wars 2, preparing for the day when we can first reveal it to the world. That day is coming very soon now. I'm confident that, when you see Guild Wars 2 for the first time, you're going to love what you see, and any worries you have about its development will fade away."