It turns out you can have too much of a good thing as a game developer. Grinding Gear Games made its name on Path of Exile, an excellent action RPG with a sprawling skill system that looks like what Final Fantasy X’s sphere grid wants to be when it grows up. The popular hack and slash has spawned a sequel that launches in Steam Early Access on December 6, and fans are excited to jump in. Maybe too excited.
“We’ve just reached one million Early Access redemptions,” Grinding Gear Games wrote on social media. “The support you have all shown for Path of Exile 2 Early Access is far beyond anything we could have ever predicted. However, we want to be upfront with you all and let you know there may very well be queues over the weekend.”
Grinding Gear went as far as to record a short video message from Jonathan Rogers, again thanking players for their interest, but warning that there may be a somewhat rocky weekend ahead thanks to the unexpected influx of players.
“We quite frankly don’t know what our backend services are going to be able to handle as we go above a million users,” Rogers says, and assures players that the team will be working to solve server issues as quickly as possible.
It’s a problem for Grinding Gear, but maybe one of the better problems a game going into Early Access can have. The launch of a new online game is often met by server woes, something that seasoned players of massively multiplayer RPGs have come to expect with every expansion to their favorite time sink.
It’s a bit of a different story for Path of Exile 2, though. Not only are player numbers typically lower for Early Access games than ones with a full release, but everyone signing up for Path of Exile 2’s pre-release version has to be really bought in. When the game hits its 1.0 launch, it will be free-to-play, but to participate in Early Access, fans have to cough up a minimum of $30 for a supporter pack, with pricier versions offering in-game cosmetic rewards. Like with most Early Access games, progress made before launch won’t carry over to the full release, so players who jump in early won’t even be getting a real advantage by paying up now. Characters made in Early Access won’t be wiped from the server, though. They’ll just be stuck in a separate mode that doesn’t interact with the full release’s server.
While it may be surprising to see how many people are willing to pay to play an unfinished version of a game that will eventually be free, there’s nothing unpredictable about the excitement around Path of Exile 2 in general. The original game blends satisfying Diablo-like action with one of the most flexible skill systems I’ve ever seen in a game, letting players run wild with their class builds to make some truly incredible characters.
In many ways, Path of Exile 2 is set up to give players what they already like about the original game. It features a variation of the original’s skill system designed to alleviate some common issues fans had, while expanding the potential for unique combinations of abilities. Path of Exile 2 will feature a series of Leagues — akin to Diablo 4’s Seasons, which offer new content on a regular basis — and some are even direct sequels to Leagues from the first game. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Path of Exile 2 is aiming to double down on what’s already great about the series while fixing what was holding it back.
Grinding Gear expects to keep Path of Exile 2 in Early Access for about six months. So while this weekend may be a rough start for the new RPG, players should have plenty of time to explore the in-development version before Path of Exile 2’s release in 2025.
