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NC Soft's MMORPG is now at half the number of World of Warcraft subscribers, but considering that you pay nothing to play it online, that's still a bit... well, bittersweet.

The biggest South Korean publisher has announced today that its Guild Wars franchise, developed by ArenaNet and comprised of the original Guild Wars and the expansions that followed (GW Factions, GW Nightfall and the recently unleashed Eye of the North), has topped more than 5 million players worldwide. The success of the subscription-free business calls for a sequel, which NC Soft is not afraid to openly confirm. So yes, Guild Wars 2 is coming, and, even better, it's currently being developped by the same ArenaNet team.

"Guild Wars is a proven success and has set a new standard for online RPG games with its unique business model and superior playability," said NCsoft CEO Taek Jin Kim. "ArenaNet is dedicated to creating games that expand the market and provide great new content to our loyal player base. This success has built a great foundation from which the next generation of Guild Wars games will grow."

"Reaching the five million mark is extremely gratifying for us at ArenaNet because it shows the hard work and dedication we put into our games has resonated with the fans," said Mike O’Brien, co-founder of ArenaNet. "We are committed to supporting all of our Guild Wars players, and at the same time, we’re extremely excited to work on the game’s evolution. Certainly the future of Guild Wars is as bright as its past and present."

However, despite the positive forecasts for Guild Wars and the encouraging sales for company's other MMORPG, Lineage, not all's rosy in NC Soft's fantasy land. The company's CEO Lee Jae-ho was forced to announce earlier this month a "downsizing" of the Austin studio, due to the lukewarm welcome the Tabula Rasa sci-fi MMO received.

NC Soft's sales dropped by 3% last year, but the publisher still managed to report an 18% increase in net profits (which last year reached $48.4 million).