Guild Wars 2's Living World narrative continues in its second season starting January 13th, 2015, developer ArenaNet confirmed on its official blog.

In celebration, the studio is starting an official countdown to the new season with a holiday-themed event that is due to start Dec. 16. Starting mid-December, ArenaNet will host its first-ever test ladder season in PvP. Players will be able to fight up the ladder in PvP over the next month using the game's new matchmaking and ladder formulas.

A monthly ESL championship is also being introduced starting today in the wake of the World Tournament Series finale event in Beijing. Starting today, top teams across North America and Europe will compete for over $3,000 in prizes while broadcasting live from the ESL HQ in Los Angeles and Cologne.

You can also expect the first Guild Wars 2 non-tournament World versus World event to take place this month with new rules.

"Join us as we turn the rules of WvW upside down for four weeks," reads a statement on the official Guild Wars blog. "Every player you kill in WvW will gain your world a point. Earn an extra point by using a finisher while your world has Borderlands Bloodlust. Objectives under attack will not display their customary white sword, and the Mist War Summons buff will give you an extra +15% WXP gain, +50% Magic Find in WvW, and +15% experience on kills in WvW. If all goes well, this will be just the first of many special events in WvW."