From 12:01 AM on Friday, March 24 until 11:59 PM on March 26, there was a preview to play the new expansion for Guild Wars, Guild Wars: Factions.  The turn out was huge.  During this short time 500,000 players participated in more than 3,000,000 of totaled play time.  This is one of the biggest previews ever conducted.  On April 28, 2006 Guild Wars: Factions will be released at retailers for $49.99.  "We knew that by focusing on new ways to play and new things to do within the game, such as the 12x12 Alliance Battles, which were extremely popular with both PvP and role playing gamers, that fans would respond enthusiastically," says Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet. "This weekend reinforced that we are on the right track with Guild Wars Factions and are making a game that rises to the challenge to be innovative and ever-compelling for its fans."