During the registration process, your ArenaNet account is automatically assigned a region that can later be viewed on the Account Management page. This is primarily an internal designation, and does not limit or change the way you interact with the game itself: North American and European players will still be able to play and switch between servers in either region, and Chinese players will be able to choose between any servers in the Chinese region.
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers about the regions and servers (or "worlds") available in Guild Wars 2.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the regional designations for Guild Wars 2?
Depending on where you purchase and register the game, your Guild Wars 2 account will be assigned to one of four regions:
- Europe: Defined as Western and Eastern Europe. Players in this region connect to the European datacenter.
- North America: Defined as Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Players in this region connect to the North American datacenter.
- China: All areas of China connect to the China datacenter, which hosts its own Guild Wars 2 servers. More information about Guild Wars 2 China can be found on the official site.
- Other: Players in countries not listed above will connect to the North American datacenter by default.
A more granular breakdown of countries and their designations can be found below.
How do I register from my region?
During registration, your region is assigned according to your serial code and the area where you're connecting to the servers. Please note that your code must match the region where you're registering your account:
- Customers in North America must register the North American version of the game.
- Customers in Europe must register the European version of the game.
- Customers in China must register the Chinese version of the game.
- Customers in other regions may register any version of the game.
Note that when you purchase the game from buy.guildwars2.com, you will automatically receive the correct serial code for your region. If, for some reason, you do not, please contact support for assistance.
Once you've successfully completed the registration process, your account essentially becomes a global account. This not only means that you are free to select the game server where you want to play, but means that you can access your account from anywhere on the planet.
Why do you designate regions for Guild Wars 2?
Regions are primarily used to support our local retail partners, though they also allow us to provide offers and deals based on local market trends in different areas of the world.
When it comes to your account, the region designation is used to help you connect to the optimal data center—where you'll have the best connectivity and experience playing the game—and to connect you with a localized support team in the event that you run into problems along the way.
If I purchase the game from buy.guildwars2.com, what serial code do I receive?
Customers who buy directly from buy.guildwars2.com will automatically receive the correct serial code for their region.
I travel frequently; will I still be able to play Guild Wars 2?
Yes! The one-time verification system simply confirms that you have purchased the correct version of the game for your area of the world. Once that has been confirmed, you may play from anywhere you can login.
How does regional restriction affect my Guild Wars 2 home world?
The first time you start the game, you will be asked to select your home world. While we display the worlds that are hosted in your regional data center by default, you are free to select a home world from any region! So if you are a European player who prefers to play on North American worlds, feel free to change regions and select the world of choice.
Does my region affect my language options?
Not at all! You can choose and swap freely between any of our supported languages: English, French, German, and Spanish.
When you install Guild Wars 2, the game client defaults to your operating system language, or to English if your language isn't supported. If you want to change the text and audio to play in a different language, you can make the change when you open the Guild Wars 2 Launcher:
- Launch Guild Wars 2.
- In the upper left corner, select your preferred language.
- The client will re-launch and begin downloading the audio files for the selected language.
You can also change the language of your in-game text using the Options menu (accessible by pressing the [F11] key, by default).
What is the regional designation for my country?
Here's a list of regional designations and the countries that fall into each region:
EUROPE
Country | Code |
---|---|
Aland Islands | AX |
Albania | AL |
Andorra | AD |
Austria | AT |
Belgium | BE |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | BA |
Bulgaria | BG |
Croatia | HR |
Cyprus | CY |
Czech Republic | CZ |
Denmark | DK |
Estonia | EE |
Faroe Islands | FO |
Finland | FI |
France | FR |
Germany | DE |
Gibraltar | GI |
Greece | GR |
Greenland | GL |
Guernsey | GG |
Hungary | HU |
Iceland | IS |
Ireland | IE |
Isle of Man | IM |
Italy | IT |
Jersey | JE |
Latvia | LV |
Liechtenstein | LI |
Lithuania | LT |
Luxembourg | LU |
Macedonia | MK |
Malta | MT |
Monaco | MC |
Montenegro | ME |
Netherlands | NL |
Norway | NO |
Poland | PL |
Portugal | PT |
Romania | RO |
San Marino | SM |
Serbia | RS |
Slovakia | SK |
Slovenia | SI |
Spain | ES |
Sweden | SE |
Switzerland | CH |
Turkey | TR |
United Kingdom | GB |
Vatican City | VA |
NORTH AMERICA
Country | Code |
---|---|
American Samoa | AS |
Canada | CA |
Guam | GU |
Mexico | MX |
Puerto Rico | PR |
U.S. Minor Outlying Islands | UM |
United States of America | US |
Virgin Islands, U.S. | VI |
OTHER
Country | Code |
---|---|
Afghanistan | AF |
Algeria | DZ |
Angola | AO |
Anguilla | AI |
Antarctica | AQ |
Antigua and Barbuda | AG |
Argentina | AR |
Armenia | AM |
Aruba | AW |
Australia | AU |
Azerbaijan | AZ |
Bahamas | BS |
Bahrain | BH |
Bangladesh | BD |
Barbados | BB |
Belarus | BY |
Belize | BZ |
Benin | BJ |
Bermuda | BM |
Bhutan | BT |
Bolivia | BO |
Botswana | BW |
Bouvet Island | BV |
Brazil | BR |
British Indian Ocean Territory | IO |
Brunei Darussalam | BN |
Burkina Faso | BF |
Burundi | BI |
Cambodia | KH |
Cameroon | CM |
Cape Verde | CV |
Cayman Islands | KY |
Central African Republic | CF |
Chad | TD |
Chile | CL |
China * | CN |
Colombia | CO |
Comoros | KM |
Congo | CG |
Congo, Democratic Republic of the | CD |
Cook Islands | CK |
Costa Rica | CR |
Cuba | CU |
Djibouti | DJ |
Dominica | DM |
Dominican Republic | DO |
Ecuador | EC |
Egypt | EG |
El Salvador | SV |
Equatorial Guinea | GQ |
Eritrea | ER |
Ethiopia | ET |
Falkland Islands | FK |
Fiji | FJ |
French Guiana | GF |
French Polynesia | PF |
French Southern Territories | TF |
Gabon | GA |
Gambia | GM |
Georgia | GE |
Ghana | GH |
Grenada | GD |
Guadeloupe | GP |
Guatemala | GT |
Guinea | GN |
Guinea-Bissau | GW |
Guyana | GY |
Haiti | HT |
Heard Island and McDonald Islands | HM |
Honduras | HN |
Hong Kong | HK |
India | IN |
Indonesia | ID |
Iran | IR |
Iraq | IQ |
Israel | IL |
Ivory Coast | CI |
Jamaica | JM |
Japan | JP |
Jordan | JO |
Kazakhstan | KZ |
Kenya | KE |
Kiribati | KI |
Korea, North | KP |
Korea, South | KR |
Kuwait | KW |
Kyrgyzstan | KG |
Laos | LA |
Lebanon | LB |
Lesotho | LS |
Liberia | LR |
Libya | LY |
Macao | MO |
Madagascar | MG |
Malawi | MW |
Malaysia | MY |
Maldives | MV |
Mali | ML |
Marshall Islands | MH |
Martinique | MQ |
Mauritania | MR |
Mauritius | MU |
Mayotte | YT |
Micronesia, Federated States of | FM |
Moldova | MD |
Mongolia | MN |
Montserrat | MS |
Morocco | MA |
Mozambique | MZ |
Myanmar | MM |
Namibia | NA |
Nauru | NR |
Nepal | NP |
Netherlands Antilles | AN |
New Caledonia | NC |
New Zealand | NZ |
Nicaragua | NI |
Niger | NE |
Nigeria | NG |
Niue | NU |
Norfolk Island | NF |
Northern Mariana Islands | MP |
Oman | OM |
Pakistan | PK |
Palau | PW |
Palestinian Territory, Occupied | PS |
Panama | PA |
Papua New Guinea | PG |
Paraguay | PY |
Peru | PE |
Philippines | PH |
Qatar | QA |
Reunion | RE |
Russia | RU |
Rwanda | RW |
Saint Helena | SH |
Saint Lucia | LC |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | PM |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | VC |
SaintKitts and Nevis | KN |
Samoa | WS |
Sao Tome and Principe | ST |
Saudi Arabia | SA |
Senegal | SN |
Seychelles | SC |
Sierra Leone | SL |
Singapore | SG |
Solomon Islands | SB |
Somalia | SO |
South Africa | ZA |
Sri Lanka | LK |
Sudan | SD |
Suriname | SR |
Swaziland | SZ |
Syria | SY |
Tahiti | XC |
Taiwan | TW |
Tajikistan | TJ |
Tanzania | TZ |
Thailand | TH |
Togo | TG |
Tokelau | TK |
Tonga | TO |
Trinidad and Tobago | TT |
Tunisia | TN |
Turkmenistan | TM |
Turks and Caicos Islands | TC |
Tuvalu | TV |
Uganda | UG |
Ukraine | UA |
United Arab Emirates | AE |
Uruguay | UY |
Uzbekistan | UZ |
Vanuatu | VU |
Venezuela | VE |
Vietnam | VN |
Virgin Islands, British | VG |
Wallis and Futuna | WF |
Western Sahara | EH |
Yemen | YE |
Zambia | ZM |
Zimbabwe | ZW |
* Please note that Guild Wars 2 China accounts will be assigned to the China region. Accounts registered from China using the non-China version Guild Wars 2 will be assigned to the Other region.