As Guild Wars 3 continues to showcase its every playable species, the fluffy Kodan take center stage in the series this time around.
Much like we reported on the first playable species revealed for Guild Wars 3, the Humans, ArenaNet’s blog continues to reveal more information about what players can expect to embody. Next in line is the bearkin Kodan, who Guild Wars 2 players will instantly recognize due to their fluffy and towering appearance. Erin Amschlinger of ArenaNet’s Narrative team describes the kodan of the Orrian golden age as a unique case in the history of the species, making it a ripe journey to explore in this latest prequel.
Originating in the Far Shiverpeaks, the Kodan are, broadly speaking, a culture defined by their faith. Kodan worship Koda the Creator, a deity they believe to be the sole fashioner of Tyria and all the natural and magical life that inhabits it. Devoting their whole lives in service of this creator, the Kodan are among the most capable fighters on Tyria: ferocious, intelligent, and driven by unshakable conviction.

Learning About The Kodan
In this new entry, the first of the southbound kodan reached Orr over a hundred years before the start of Guild Wars 3. They felt an immediate conviction that they had arrived at their destination; they sensed a land ailing, the way one smells sickness in a loved one long before it’s spoken of. A palpable pain radiating from the natural-magical world.
A century deep into their grand experiment to reclaim their connection to Koda, the Orrian Kodan find themselves at a fork in their path. As a Kodan who is part of the Order of the Vael, players will find unique challenges ahead. The Vaelwardens’ mission is faltering. The conviction that carried their forebears south is dwindling with each passing generation. A tumultuous period of sudden change and upheaval, the beginning of Guild Wars 3 promises many changes for this particularly religious species.
Billed as a modern evolution of the MMO, Guild Wars 3 is launching a beta in Fall 2027. It is releasing for PC via Steam and PlayStation 5.