More than 500,000 players participated in the invitation-only preview event for Guild Wars Factions which took place last month, NCsoft announced. From 12:01 AM on Friday, 24 March until 11:59 PM on 26 March, players cumulatively spent more than three million hours online, making the Guild Wars Factions Preview Event (FPE) one of the largest preview events in gaming history. Developed by ArenaNet, Guild Wars Factions will offer new regions, professions, skills, missions, and monsters, along with expanded options for both Cooperative and Player-versus-Player (PvP) play, and enhanced features for guilds. Guild Wars: Factions is set to hit store shelves on 28 April 2006 with a suggested retail price of £29.99 / €44.99.