Having played the first few hours, I'm still a little shocked that brooding gothic action RPG Path Of Exile 2 (due out later this year) is set to be free. Or at least, every bit as free as its predecessor. During a preview event in Los Angeles, I got to ask the game's director, Jonathan Rogers, if the game would be following at all in the footsteps of Diablo 4, which despite catching some flak for its aggressive live service monetization and MMO aspects, has still been Blizzard's biggest financial hit yet.
His response for Path of Exile 2 was clear. "It's definitely not an MMO. I've never liked MMOs, actually," he said. Rogers explained that while he was a huge Diablo 2 fan, he firmly bounced off World of Warcraft and its more social side. He's an ARPG diehard, still making the kind of game that appeals to him, and doesn't feel that MMO elements bring much to the classic ARPG formula.
