ArenaNet studio head says Guild Wars 3 will have 'significantly less' UI elements on the HUD for an MMO — 'We very intentionally designed this because it's also on console and it's a lean-back experience'

The studio head says testers were watching "the actual combat" instead of focusing on UI the whole time

by · TechRadar

News By Demi Williams Contributions by Rob Dwiar Published 18 September 2026

(Image credit: ArenaNet)

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  • Guild Wars 3 will have "significantly less UI in general" for an MMORPG
  • ArenaNet studio head Colin Johanson says it will better showcase combat and the game's open world
  • He says combat UI elements, like debuffs, will be represented visually instead

Although it's a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), ArenaNet has confirmed that Guild Wars 3 will have a minimal HUD, partly because the game is also designed for console.

During a guided presentation at Gamescom, attended by TechRadar Gaming, studio head Colin Johanson showcased an early build of the game and its HUD, saying that it is subject to change throughout development and the team intends to have "significantly less UI in general."

In other MMOs, whether it's World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, the main HUD is typically littered with UI elements from quest lists, buffs and debuffs, action bars, and whatever else the player chooses to add for themself.

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For Guild Wars 3, ArenaNet will considerably tone down these elements in favor of a cleaner HUD, which Johanson said will better showcase combat and the game's open world. Additionally, console users wouldn't be able to hover over these UI features.

"I think one of the things that you traditionally see in MMOs is there's a huge number of icons all over the screen that are used to communicate combat status and things that are going on," Johanson said.

"And we very intentionally designed this, one, because it's also on console and it's a lean-back experience where you can't hover over icons to read everything, to provide an experience that doesn't require having a massive amount of information in the UI. But two, we also think that's just a better combat experience if we can show more of the things happening in the world."

Adding to this, the studio head said that during battle, conditions traditionally communicated through the UI, such as cold attacks, won't appear as "stacked" debuffs on the HUD, so players will see the effect instead.

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