Release
Perfect World is a 3D fantasy MMORPG made by Beijing Perfect World and built on Chinese mythology. It launched in China in January 2006. Other regional versions followed in 2008: Russia and Brazil on May 19, Europe later that year, and North America on September 2.
Perfect World International (PWI), the English version published by Arc Games, opened as an open beta on September 2, 2008. Characters were not wiped when the beta ended, so that day counts as the official release. The first expansion arrived barely three months later. See What Is Perfect World for an overview of the game itself.
Expansions
Expansions are the big releases: each has its own name and usually brings new areas, classes, systems or story. This is the PWI wiki's list, with each expansion's version, release date and headline features.
| Expansion | Version | Date | Main additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lost Empire | 1.3.9 | 2008-12-03 | Old Heaven's Tear maps, level 79 and 100 skills, Warsoul weapons, legendary pets |
| Age of Spirits | 1.4.1 | 2009-05-13 | Genies, auto-pathing, Find Quest |
| Rising Tide | 1.4.2 | 2009-12-16 | Tideborn race, Assassin, Psychic, Palace of Nirvana |
| Genesis | 1.4.4 | 2011-03-02 | Earthguard race, Seeker, Mystic, faction bases |
| Descent | 1.4.5 | 2012-02-15 | Morai, the three Orders, new skills, Endless Universe |
| Sirens of War | 1.4.6 | 2012-11-14 | Nation Wars |
| New Horizons | 1.5.1 (v765) | 2013-12-18 | Primal World, Reawakening, War Avatars, Boundary system |
| Eclipse | 1.5.2 (v829) | 2014-12-16 | Nightshade race, Duskblade, Stormbringer, new starting area |
| War Front | 1.5.3 (v899) | 2015-11-10 | Heavenfall Temple, cross-server Nation Wars |
| Elysium | 1.5.5 (v938) | 2016-04-12 | Homesteads, Uncharted Paradise, Grade 17 weapons, new skills |
| Neverfall | 1.5.6 (v1010) | 2017-04-13 | Western Steppes, Glyphs, Dawnlight Halls, Celestial Saint |
| Wonderland | 1.5.7 (v1062) | 2018-01-31 | Adventure Kingdom, War Avatar crafting, faction overhaul |
| Redemption | 1.5.9 | 2018-09-19 | Tome refining, Bestiary, Royal Sky, Advanced Engraving |
| Wings of Rebirth | 1.6.2 | 2019-05-22 | Technician, Edgerunner, Twilight Temple Revisited Part 2, couple system, Master and Apprentice system |
| Northern Realms | 1.6.6 | 2020-06-10 | Northern Realm, Allegiances, Cosmos Conduit, Pious Sky |
| Dawnlight | 1.7.0 | 2021-06-23 | Grade 18 Accoladed weapons, Moon Watcher Tower, Apex Sky |
| The Wildwalker | 1.7.2 | 2021-11-17 | The Wildwalker class |
| Fountain of Fate | - | 2022-08-10 | Rising Sky, larger Western Continent, Fountain of Fate, Untamed Hero Sagas, extra Glyph slots |
| Divine Fury | - | 2023-05-10 | War-Torn Canyon and a faction overhaul, upgraded classic models and customization, Codex and appearance updates, two new Hero Sagas |
| Seal the Sky | 1.7.8 (v1330) | 2023-11-29 | Larger Western Steppes, Skyseal Boundary, Glyph Trials, General Summer's Order |
| Song of the Surging Waves | 1.8.0 (v1350) | 2024-12-20 | The Bard class, class transfer, Hero Sagas |
| Soul Resonance | 1.8.4 | 2026-10-14 | The Bloodspirit class, a new main story quest chain for the basics |
Content updates
Between expansions, content updates extend the current one with new instances, quests or systems. Some carry their own name, others are named after the expansion or the month. Besides the ones below, Rising Tide received an update on May 18, 2010 that added Sage and Demon conversion and new Assassin and Psychic skills.
| Update | Expansion | Date | Main additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Fury | Descent | 2012-05-23 | Advanced Endless Universe, Rank 9 and Nirvana third-cast gear, more Morai content |
| Dawn of Spring | Sirens of War | 2013-03-20 | Upgraded shapeshift forms, Nation Wars changes, Warsoul weapon upgrades |
| Rising Call | Sirens of War | 2013-06-19 | Meridian system, Soulgem Conversion, bigger Nation Wars, revamped Abaddon and Seat of Torment |
| Crimson Imperium | Sirens of War | 2013-09-25 | Titles, attendance and Perfect Match systems, more Morai Order content |
| Chill of Luneska | New Horizons | 2014-08-19 | Luneska, Astral Sky, Territory Resource Wars, equipment engraving |
| Riptide | Eclipse | 2015-08-18 | Silent Sea, Shifting Sky, more Primal World content |
| Primal Warfare | Elysium | 2016-10-26 | Larger Homesteads, Minions, Uncharted Paradise Deicide Mode, Twilight Sky |
| Neverfall Content Update | Neverfall | 2017-08-30 | Dungeon changes, cross-server Nation Wars, Faction Battles, Character Simulator, Transmutation |
| Wonderland Spring Content Update | Wonderland | 2018-05-16 | Icebound Underworld, Sarokkan the Dragon-Touched, new shards, seasonal events |
| January 2019 Content Update | Redemption | 2019-01-09 | Twilight Temple Revisited, Twilight Warsoul gear, Twilight Souls, Warsoul Repository |
| Wings of Rebirth Content Update | Wings of Rebirth | 2019-10-23 | Gold and Silver Coin system, Northern Wastes progression, more character customization |
| Celestials Update | Northern Realms | 2020-12-16 | Celestial Infants, Whispering Mausoleum, Chrono Hunt, Codex |
| Song of the Surging Waves – Part 2 | Song of the Surging Waves | 2026-02-25 | Eastern Continent and more expansion content |
Servers and publisher
- March 17, 2010: Archosaur opened as PWI's seventh server, a West Coast PvE server meant as a fresh start for new players and for those who wanted to try the Tideborn.
- September 2010: at its second anniversary the publisher said PWI had grown from two servers to seven, with Archosaur and Raging Tide as the newest.
- 2011: two European servers were added; they were later merged into one.
- April 2022: after it was acquired, the North American branch of Perfect World Entertainment was renamed Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, a name also applied to the games it had published.
- Today PWI runs four servers: Etherblade and Twilight Temple (US West), Tideswell (US East) and Dawnglory (EU).
The latest expansion: Soul Resonance
Since 1.8.4Soul Resonance (October 14, 2026) added the Bloodspirit, an Earthguard damage dealer with dual scythes who uses its own blood to call on demonic forms. It also brought a new main story that walks new characters through almost every feature step by step, up to level 100 after the second Reawakening.
The same patch removed some older systems: the Master and Apprentice system, the couple quests and couple instance (see Marriage and Mentors), the Grade 16 and Rank 9.3 forges, and support for 32-bit computers.
Sources
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): Expansions
- Wikipedia: Perfect World (video game)
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): Perfect World International
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI The Lost Empire
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Age of Spirits
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Rising Tide
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Genesis
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Sirens of War
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI New Horizons
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Eclipse
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Song of the Surging Waves
- PWI Wiki (Fandom): PWI Soul Resonance/Patch Notes
- Arc Games: Perfect World International: Descent expansion now available
- Arc Games: Perfect World International celebrates second anniversary
- Arc Games: Perfect World International unleashes seventh server
- Arc Games: The Celestials Update is Live!
Game pictures: © Perfect World Entertainment / Arc Games · arcgames.com
