The Guild Wars 2 beta will begin in the second half of 2011, NCsoft has announced.

During a conference call, chief financial officer Jaeho Lee also heavily hinted at a 2012 release for the game.

"Starting from year 2012, we believe substantial growth will be driven by new blockbuster titles like [Blade & Soul] and Guild Wars 2," announced Lee to investors.

"Also, Guild Wars 2 will go into beta testing stage in the second half of this year," he added.

Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet has stuck staunchly to a 'when it's done' mentality regarding the game's release.

Guild Wars 2 was announced in 2007. Four years later, a team of 150 developers still beavers away. Guild Wars 1 may have been a breakout independent success, but Guild Wars 2 is a leviathan. And the hottest MMO prospect on the block.

"Guild Wars 2 is the most exciting MMO we've seen in the last three years," wrote Oli Welsh, who saw Guild Wars 2 for Eurogamer earlier this year.