ArenaNet founder and president Mike O’Brien has said that Guild Wars 2 will launch in 2012.

O’Brien made the announcement on the ArenaNet blog: “Last year, thousands of you joined us at shows and events all over the world to try Guild Wars 2 for yourself. This year, you’ll finally be able to immerse yourself in the vast, diverse world of Tyria.”

In the same post, O’Brien added that closed beta testing will be expanded in the coming months. “We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events.”

“[In] March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate.”

O’Brien recommends keeping a close watch on the official Guild Wars 2 website for future information on signing up for a beta event.

You can find Gameplanet’s coverage of Guild Wars 2 here.